i-X.  V:''.: 


UC-NRLF 


*B    2T7    flhE 


■ 

si 


aKl'.  - 


m 


ImMvVaiiiJJf.Or 


T"E0HiSM 


■    '     .■     - 

"l  "'.'■■  '. 

' 

/        ;;••     • 

Mm  r 

:     '      ••        •• 

litoii 


4$ 


EDUCATION  O&PT, 


THE 


YOUNG  CITIZEN'S 
CATECHISM. 


THE 


YOUNG  CITIZEN'S  CATECHISM, 


EXPLAINING 


THE  DUTIES 


DISTRICT,   TOWN,   CITY,  COUNTY,   STATE,   AND 
UNITED  STATES  OFFICERS. 

TOGETHER  WITH 

gttUs  for  f  arltaMteji  rtr  tamcrrial  ty&mu* 

DESIGNED  FOR  SCHOOLS. 


BY  ELISHA  P.  HOWE. 


NEW-YORK: 

PUBLISHED  BY  A.  S.  BARNES  &  BURR, 

51   &   53   JOHN  STREET. 

1861. 


.  '  r  '  '■  «*«••*« 


TKzz 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860,  by 

ELISHA   P.  HOWE, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Conrt  of  the  United  States,  for  the 
Northern  District  of  New  York. 

■BUCATlOtt  DEFT, 


WILLIAM    DENYSE,  GEO.    W.    WOOD, 

Sterkotyi-kr  and  Ei.ECTKOTvrER,  Printer, 

183  William  st. .  New  York.  Corner  Dutch  and  John  streets. 


PREFACE. 


A  majority  of  the  children  of  a  com- 
munity or  of  a  state  enjoy  only  the  oppor- 
tunities afforded  by  common  schools  be- 
fore entering  upon  the  duties  of  real  life; 
and  equally  true  is  it,  that  this  majority, 
who  wield  so  mighty  an  influence  over  a 
state  or  nation,  almost  invariably  leave  the 
school-room  and  enter  the  various  pursuits 
of  life  with  but  little  or  no  knowledge  of  the 
practical  principles  that  underlie  the  work- 
ings of  all  ordinary  business  transactions, 
and  much  more,  of  the  government  of  the 
state  or  nation.  In  this  respect,  it  is  to  be 
regretted  that  our  common  schools  have  not 
heretofore  been  more  thoroughly  practical, — 
most  teachers  having  never  been  taught, 
and,  having  no  text-book  from  which  to  teach, 
have    passed   opr  ^his^  important    matter, 


5  PREFACE. 

though  convinced  that  their  pupils  cannot 
be  prepared  for  independent  thought  and 
action  in  any  direction  until  they  first  learn 
it  out  of  the  school-room. 

Now  this  little  volume  is  intended  to  sup- 
ply the  deficiency  which  has  heretofore  ex- 
isted in  this  direction,  in  our  school  system ; 
and,  instead  of  placing  before  the  learner  a 
large  volume  of  confused  matter,  beyond  the 
reach  of  his  comprehension,  the  author  has 
endeavored  to  suit  it  to  his  capacity,  as  well 
as  to  the  capacity  of  the  teacher,  and  is  hopeful 
that  it  may  be  at  once  interesting  and  the 
means  of  inaugurating  a  system  of  business 
education. 

In  conclusion,  the  author  desires  to  make 
acknowledgment  of  the  valuable  services  ren- 
dered by  Cornell  Crysler,  Esq.,  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  this  work. 

E.  P.  II. 

Marcellus,  N.  Y. 


CONTENTS. 


fart  |int 


Section     I. — Civil  Divisions,     .            .            .  .11 

Section    II. — Villages  and  Cities,     ...  14 

Section  III.— Towns,       .            .            .            .  .23 

Section  IV. — Counties,          ....  33 

Section     V. — Chap.      I. — States,           .            .  .47 

"            Chap.    II. — Representative  Officers,  48 

"            Chap.  III. — Judiciary,     .            .  .58 

"            Chap.  IV. — Executive,           .            .  61 

Section  VI. — Chap.      I. — United  States,          .  .71 

*u            Chap.    II. — Judiciary,           .            .  83 

"            Chap.  III.— Executive,    .            .  .87 

Declaration  of  Independence,           ...  98 

Constitution  of  the  United  States,      .  .  108 


Dart  Jtotfc, 


Parliamentary  Practice,       ....        14C 

(9) 


10  CONTENTS. 

$Kt  ffliirtr. 

Section  I. — Promissory  Notes  and  Bills  of  Ex- 
change, .  •  .  .  156 
Section  II. — Deeds,  .  .  .  170 
Section  III. — Mortgages,  .  .  .  .177 
Section  IV.— Wills,  .  .  .  .  .182 
Table  on  Interest,          .....  188 


THE 


YOUNG  CITIZEN'S  CATECHISM. 


*mt  Ji»t 


SECTION    I. 

CIVIL    DIVISIONS. 

How  is  the  state  of  New  York  divided  for  civil 
and  municipal  purposes  ?* 

Into  counties,  towns,  cities,  and  villages. 

How  for  judicial  and  representative  purposes  ? 
Into  districts. 

How  for  school  purposes  ? 
Into  school  districts. 

How  are  school  districts  erected  by  law  ? 
The  power  to  alter,  annul,  and  form  new 
districts  lies  with  the  school  commissioners. 


*  Although  the  questions  refer  to  the  State  of  New  York,  they 
apply  to  most  other  states  of  the  Union. 

fill 


1  2         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

What  officers  are  to  be  elected  in  each  school  district? 

A  district  clerk,  one  (or  three*)  trustee,  a 
collector,  and  a  librarian. 

To  what  pay  are  school  district  officers  entitled? 

To  n:  pt  the  collector,  who  receives 

one  per  cent,  on  all  sums  of  pioney  paid  before 
i  ration  of  fourteen  days  after  receiving 
his  warrant,  and  five  per  cent,  on  all  sums 
collected  after  fourteen  days,  and,  in  case  of 
a  levy  and  Bale,  travelling  fees  at  the  rate  of 
r  mile,  t<>  be  computed  from  the 
school-house  in  his  district. 

For  how  long  a  time  are  school  district  officers  elected? 
For  one  year,  except  where  there  arc  three 

trustees,  when  they  (the  trustees)  are  elected 
for  a  term  of  three  years. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  collector? 
To  obey  the  directions  contained  in  his  war- 
rant.    See  Code  of  Public  Instruction,  p.  291. 

What  are  some  of  the  duties  of  trustee* 
To  see  to  the  property  of  the  district,  hire 
re,  make  out  taxes,  and  keep  the  school- 
house  in  repair. 

*  As  the  district  shall  dct'jrnnue. 


CIVIL   DIVISIONS.  13 

Where  may  the  duties  of  trustees  be  found  in  full  ? 
In  the  Code  of  Public  Instruction,  p.  241. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  district  clerk  ? 

To  keep  a  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
district  meetings,  and  to  preserve  all  books 
and  papers  belonging  to  the  clerk. 

Where  may  his  full  duties  be  found  ? 
On  p.  240  in  the  Code  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion. 

What  duties  arc  required  of  the  librarian? 
.    To  take,  charge  of  the  books  belonging  to 
the  district,  and  report  the  number  and  con- 
dition to  the  trustees. 

Where  may  the  duties  of  the  librarian  be  found  in 
full? 

In  the  Code  of  Public  Instruction,  p.  328. 

Where  may  be  found  the  regulations  concerning 
the  use  of  books  in  district  libraries,  as  prescribed  by 
the  superintendent  of  public  instruction  ? 

In  the  Code  of  Public  Instruction,  p.  331. 

Can  the  offices  of  trustee  and  librarian  be  held  by 
the  same  person  ? 

They  can  not. 


14         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

SECTION    II. 

VILLAGES  AND  CITIES. 

What  is  an  incorporated  village  ? 

It  is  a  collection  of  houses  and  inhabitants, 
holding  a  charter  from  the  state,  and  having 
power  to  make  local  laws. 

What  are  its  officers  ? 

A  hoard  of  five  trustees,  one  of  whom  they 
elect  as  president ;  a  clerk ;  three  assessors ;  a 
collector ;  a  pound-master ;  a  treasurer  ;  fire 
wardens,  not  exceeding  five ;  and  three  street 
commissioners,  when  such  village  shall  be  a 
separate  road  district. 

Must  such  officers  take  and  subscribe  the  constitu- 
tional oath  of  office  ? 

They  must,  and  file  the  same  with  the  clerk 
of  such  village,  within  ten  days  after  notice 
of  his  election. 

How  long  is  their  term  of  office  ? 
One  year. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  trustees  ? 

To  provide  for  the  care  of  public  property ; 


%   VILLAGES   AND    CITIES.  15 

to  see  that  the  village  officers  perform  their 
duties ;  to  fix  the  compensation  of  the  officers. 
They  also  make  by-laws  for  the  regulation  of 
the  village. 

What  compensation  do  they  receive  ? 
They  do  not  receive  pay. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  clerk  ? 

He  shall  have  the  custody  of  records,  books, 
and  papers  of  such  village,  attend  all  meet- 
ings of  the  trustees,  and  record  the  proceed- 
ings, file  all  papers,  record  all  matters  which 
he  shall  be  required  to  record,  attend  all  meet- 
ings of  the  electors  of  such  village,  and  keep 
poll-list,  and  perform  such  other  duties  as  shall 
be  lawfully  imposed  on  him  by  the  by-laws. 

How  is  he  paid  ? 

His  compensation  is  to  be  fixed  by  the 
by-laws  of  such  village,  which  shall  not  ex- 
ceed the  compensation  allowed  to  the  town 
clerk  for  similar  services. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  assessors  ? 

They  shall  assess  all  sums  of  money  to  be 
raised  by  tax  in  such  village,  in  the  same 
manner,  as   nearly  as   practicable,  as  town 


16         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN7^   CATECHISM. 

assessors,  and  they  shall  deliver  the  same  to 
the  trustees  of  such  village  within  sixty  days 
after  the  meeting  at  which  such  tax  was 
directed  to  be  raised. 

How  are  they  paid  ? 

They  shall  receive  a  compensation  to  be 
fixed  by  the  by-laws  of  such  village,  which 
shall  not  exceed  the  compensation  allowed  to 
town  assessors  for  similar  services. 

AY  hat  aiv  (lie  duties  of  collector  ? 

He  shall  execute  to  such  village,  by  its  cor- 
porate name,  and  deliver  to  the  trustees 
thereof,  a  bond,  with  sureties  approved  by 
them,  conditioned  for  the  faithful  perform- 
ance of  his  official  duties ;  he  shall  collect  all 
sums  of  money  required  of  him  to  collect, 
and  pay  over  the  same  to  the  treasurer  of 
such  village,  and  make  a  written  return  of 
his  warrant  to  the  trustees. 

How  La  lie  paid  ? 

He  shall  receive  a  compensation,  to  be  fixed 
by  the  by-laws  of  such  village,  which  shall 
not  exceed  the  compensation  of  the  town  col- 
lector for  similar  services. 


VILLAGES   AND    CITIES.  17 

"What  are  the  general  duties  of  pound-master  ? 

To  restrain  all  animals  which  he  shall  find 
going  at  large  in  such  village,  in  violation  of 
the  by-laws  thereof,  and  keep  them  in  his 
custody  until  they  shall  be  disposed  of  accord- 
ing to  law. 

How  is  he  paid  ? 

He  is  paid  by  fees,  and  also  receives  a 
reasonable  compensation  for  feedmg  such 
animals. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  treasurer  ? 

To  execute  a  bond  to  such  village  by  its 
corporate  name,  with  sureties  to  be  approved 
by  the  board  of  trustees,  conditioned  for  the 
faithful  performance  of  his  official  duties.  He 
shall  receive,  and  safely  keep  and  pay  out,  all 
moneys  belonging  to  such  village,  and  keep 
account  of  the  same,  and  preserve  all  vouchers 
filed  in  his  office,  and  exhibit  the  same  with 
his  book  of  accounts  at  every  annual  meeting 
of  the  electors  of  such  village,  and  at  every 
special  meeting  when  required  to  do  so  by 
any  trustee. 

How  is  he  paid  ? 

He  shall  receive  such  compensation  as  is 


18         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

fixed  by  the  by-laws  of  tlie  village,  which 
compensation  shall  not  exceed  the  compensa- 
tion of  the  county  treasurer  for  similar  ser- 
vices. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  fire  wardens? 

From  time  to  time  to  examine  the  appara- 
tus for  extinguishing  fires  in  such  village,  and 
report  their  condition  to  the  trustees;  attend 
fires,  and  give  directions  in  respect  to  the 
manner  of  extinguishing  the  same  ;  and  they 
may,  in  the  day-time,  enter  any  building  in 
which  there  shall  be  a  fire-place,  stove,  or 
stove-pipe,  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the 
same,  or  upon  any  premises  where  ashes  are 
kept ;  and  if  they  shall  find  any  fire-place, 
stove,  stove-pipe,  or  place  for  keeping  ashes, 
unsafe,  they  shall  report  the  same  to  the  trus- 
tees. 

Are  they  entitled  to  any  compensation  ? 
They  are  not. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  street  commission- 
era  ?  m 

They  shall,  under  the  direction  of  the  trus- 
tees, superintend  the  making  and  repairing 
of  side-walks,  the  expenditure  upon  the  streets 


VILLAGES    AND    CITIES.  19 

of  such  village  of  the  money  raised  for  that 
purpose,  and  they  shall  perform  the  duties  of 
the  overseers  of  highways  in  such  village. 

How  are  they  paid  ? 

They  shall  receive  such  compensation  as 
shall  be  fixed  by  the  by-laws  of  such  village, 
not  exceeding  the  compensation  allowed  to 
overseers  of  highways. 

Are  there  any  other  officers  belonging  to  a  village  ? 

The  foregoing  are  those  provided  by  stat- 
ute, but  others  may  be  elected  if  any  char- 
ter shall  provide  for  their  election. 

How  are  cities  formed  ? 

They  are  erected  from  villages  by  an  act 
of  the  legislature. 

How  are  cities  divided  ? 
Into  wards. 

Do  cities  elect  to  the  same  offices  ? 
They  do  not. 

What  officers  do  all  cities  elect  ? 

A  mayor  and  board  of  aldermen. 

For  how  long  a  term  are  mayors  elected  ? 

One  year;   except  in  New  York  and  Al- 


20         TIIE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

bany  counties,  where  they  are  elected  for  a 
term  of  two  years. 

Are  the  duties  of  mayor  and  other  officers  the  same 
in  all  cities  ? 

They  are  not,  but  are  governed  by  their 
several  charters. 

What  general  duties  devolve  upon  mayors  of  all 
cities  ? 

He  is  the  executive  officer  of  the  city,  pre- 
sides at  the  meeting  of  the  common  council, 
may  perform  marriage  ceremony,  cause  to  be 
kept  all  laws  made  for  the  preservation  of  the 
peace,  issue  process  for  the  apprehension  of 
persons  charged  with  any  offence,  and  exam- 
ine vagrants  brought  before  him. 

What  are  the  duties  of  policemen  ? 

To  arrest  persons  upon  a  process  and  bring 
them  before  police  justice,  take  charge  of 
prisoners,  take  them  to  the  county  jail,  and 
such  other  duties  as  may  devolve  upon  them 
from  the  laws  of  the  city. 

.  What  other  officers  are  elected  in  some  cities? 
A  clerk,  recorder,  and  marshal. 

What  are  their  general  duties  ? 


VILLAGES   AND   CITIES.  21 

Their  duties  are  peculiar  to  the  charter  and 
by-laws  which  create  them. 

By  whom  are  commissioners  of  deeds  appointed  ? 
The  common  council. 

What  are  their  general  duties'? 

To  take  the  proof  and  acknowledgment  of 
conveyances  of  real  estate,  and  the  discharge 
of  mortgages,  to  take  the  acknowledgment 
of  bail  in  any  action  in  the  supreme  court,  or 
of  satisfaction  of  judgments  in  the  court  of 
common  pleas,  in  their  own  county,  and  per- 
form such  duties  as  the  law  of  the  city  en- 
joins. 

What  is  the  compensation  of  city  officers  ? 
It  is  such  as  their  ordinances  shall  deter- 
mine. 

What  are  the  duties  of  aldermen  ? 

They  shall  examine  beggars  and  vagrants 
brought  before  them,  and  cause  to  be  kept 
all  laws  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace; 
they  have  power  and  they  issue  process  for 
the  apprehension  of  persons  charged  with 
crime. 

What  body  do  the  mayor  and  aldermen  form  ? 


22         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

The  common  council. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  common  council? 

They  form  the  legislative  body  for  the 
enactment  of  city  laws,  appoint  and  regulate 
the  police,  and  such  other  duties  as  may  de- 
volve upon  them  by  virtue  of  their  charter. 

Of  what  does  the  police  consist  ? 

A  police  justice,  the  chief  of  police,  and 
policemen. 

What  arc  the  duties  of  police  justice? 

To  try  persons  brought  before  him  charged 
with  crime,  and  render  a  decision  according 
to  the  evidence  given. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  chief  of  police? 

He  is,  under  the  mayor,  chief  executive  of 
the  police  department;  he  should  see  that 
the  ordinances  of  the  common  council  are 
obeyed,  and  have  general  direction  of  the 
police. 

Are  any  other  officers  elected  in  cities  ? 

A  supervisor  is  elected  from  each  ward; 
and  such  others  as  may  be  required  by  each 
charter. 


TOWNS.  23 

SECTION     III. 

TOWNS. 

How  are  towns  erected  ? 

By  the  legislature,  until  1849,  when  power 
was  given  to  the  several  boards  of  super- 
visors, except  in  New  York  county,  by  a 
vote  of  all  the  members  elected,  to  divide  or 
alter  the  bounds  of  any  town,  or  erect  new 
ones  when  such  division  does  not  place  parts 
of  the  same  town  in  more  than  one  assembly 
district. 

Where  are  the  survey  and  map  of  alteration  or  erec- 
tion filed  ?     - 

In  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state. 

What  officers  are  elected  in  each  town  not  excepted 
by  statute  ? 

A  supervisor,  town  clerk,  three  assessors,  a 
collector,  one  (or  three*)  commissioner  of 
highways,  four  justices  of  the  peace,  con- 
stables not  exceeding  five,  one  (or  two*) 
overseer  of  the  poor,  a  sealer  of  weights  and 
measures,  two  inspectors  of  election,  one  over- 
seer of  highways  in  each  road  district,  and  as 
many  pound-masters  as  the  electors  shall  de- 
termine. 

*  As  the  electors  may  determine. 


24         THE    YOUNG   CITIZENS   CATECHISM. 

How  are  town  officers  elected  ? 

The  supervisor,  town  clerk,  assessors,  col- 
lector, overseers  of  the  poor,  commissioners  of 
highways,  and  constables  shall  be  elected  by 
ballot. 

How  shall  the  remainder  he  chosen  ? 
Either  by  ballot,  by  ayes  and  noes,  or  by 
the  rising  or  the  dividing  of  the  electors. 

For  how  long  a  term  are  town  officers  elected  ? 

The  assessors  and  highway  commissioners''" 
are  elected  for  three  years,  the  justices  of  the 
peace  for  four  years,  and  all  others  for  one  year. 

How  are  town  officers  paid  ? 
By  fees,  or  a  per  diem  allowance  for  the 
time  employed. 

What  are  some  of  the  general  duties  of  supervisors  ? 

To  receive  and  disburse  the  school  and 
certain  town  moneys ;  to  sue  for  certain  pen- 
alties given  to  his  town;  to  keep  account 
of  moneys  received  and  disbursed  by  him ; 
to  account  annually  to  justices  and  town 
clerk  ;  to  attend  meetings  of  the  board  of 

°  Where  there  is  but  one  highway  commissioner,  he  is  elected 
for  one  year. 


TOWNS.  25 

supervisors  of  his  county ;  to  receive  acts  to 
be  laid  before  the  board  ;  to  lay  before  the 
board  of  supervisors  copies  of  entries  re- 
ceived from  the  town  clerk ;  to  cause  survey 
and  map  of  his  town  to  be  made,  when  re- 
quired by  the  state  engineer  and  surveyor, 
under  a  forfeiture  of  fifty  dollars ;  they  also 
form  the  board  of  county  canvassers. 

What  are  some  of  the  general  duties  of  town  clerk  ? 

To  keep  records,  books,  and  papers  of  the 
town,  and  to  file  papers ;  to  record  minutes 
of  the  proceedings  of  town  meetings ;  to  de- 
liver certified  copies  of  certain  entries  to  the 
supervisor ;  to  return  to  county  clerk  names 
of  the  constables  elected  in  his  town,  under 
a  fine  of  ten  dollars  ;  to  certify  to  copies  of 
papers  and  transcripts. 

Who  administers  the  oath  of  office  to  a  justice  of 
the  peace  ? 

The  county  clerk. 

When  does  his  term  commence  ? 
Upon  the  first  day  of  January ;  unless  he 
is  elected  to  fill  a  vacancy. 

What  are  some  of  his  powers  and  duties  ? 

2 


26         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

He  may  take  acknowledgment  of  convey- 
ances, administer  oaths,  issue  a  process  against 
others,  hold  courts  ;  lie  must  meet  with  the 
town  board  to  audit  town  accounts,  and  at- 
tend town  meeting;  and  one  of  their  number 
must  preside  and  keep  order. 

What  officers  compose  the  town  board  ? 
The  supervisor,  town  clerk,  and  justices  of 
the  peace. 

How  is  the  justice  paid  ? 
By  fees. 

"What  is  his  jurisdiction  ? 

His  territorial  jurisdiction  extends  through- 
out the  county  for  which  he  is  elected,  but 
he  must  reside  in  the  town  for  which  he  is 
chosen  ;  and  some  of  the  parties,  when  resi- 
dents of  the  county,  must  reside  in  the  same 
or  adjoining  town  with  the  justice,  and  must 
not  be  related  within  the  ninth  degree  of 
consanguinity  or  affinity  ;  and  the  recovery 
must  not  exceed  one  hundred  dollars. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  assessor? 

They  may  divide  the  town  into  convenient 
assessment  districts;    and  between  the  first 


TOWNS.  27 

days  of  May  and  July  in  each  year  shall,  by 
inquiry,  ascertain  the  names  of  all  the  taxa- 
ble inhabitants  in  the  town,  and  the  taxable 
property,  real  or  personal,  within  the  same. 

They  shall  prepare  an  assessment  roll,  in 
which  they  shall  set  down  in  four  separate 
columns,  as  follows : 

In  the  first  column,  the  names  of  all  the 
taxable  inhabitants  in  the  town. 

In  the  second,  the  quantity  of  land  to  be 
taxed  to  each  person. 

In  the  third,  the  full  value  of  such  land. 

In  the  fourth,  the  full  value  of  all  the  tax- 
able personal  property  owned  by  such  per- 
sons, after  deducting  the  just  debts  owing  to 
them. 

They  may,  if  they  deem  it  necessary,  direct 
a  survey  of  non-resident  lands. 

They  shall  complete  their  roll  on  or  before 
the  first  day  of  August  in  each  year ;  and,  upon 
its  completion,  they  shall  post  notices  in  three 
or  more  public  places,  stating  that  they  have 
completed  their  assessment,  and  that  a  copy 
of  it  is  in  possession  of  one  of  the  assessors, 
where  it  can  be  examined  until  the  third 
Tuesday  of  August. 


28         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

* 
What  may  a  person  do  if  lie  considers  the  assess- 
ment of  his  property  larger  than  its  real  value  ? 

He  can  appear  before  the  assessors  upon 
the  third  Tuesday  of  August,  and  be  heard 
by  them,  showing  cause  why  he  should  not 
be  thus  assessed. 

What  are  some  of  the  duties  of  the  commissioners 
of  highways  ? 

They  have  the  care  of  highways  and  bridges, 
direct  repairs,  regulate  roads  laid  out  and 
lay  out  new  ones,  alter  them,  direct  roads 
used  twenty  years  without  record  to  be  re- 
corded, keep  bridges  iu  repair,  divide  towns 
into  road  districts,  assign  inhabitants  to  each 
district,  require  overseers  to  warn  when  they 
think  proper,  account  to  the  town  board,  de- 
liver a  statement  of  necessaiy  improvements, 
cause  mile-stones  to  be  erected,  cause  guide- 
posts  to  be  erected  on  post  roads,  and  shall 
forfeit  ten  dollars  for  refusing  to  prosecute 
overseers. 

Under  whose  care  are  roads  and  bridges,  more  im- 
mediately ? 

An  overseer  of  highways. 
What  are  his  general  duties  ? 


TOWNS.  29 

To  notify  persons,  liable  to  appear  upon 
the  road,  to  work  their  tax,  to  see  that  the 
taxes  are  faithfully  worked,  to  keep  roads  in 
good  condition,  to  report  to  one  of  the  com- 
missioners just  previous  to  town  meeting  a 
faithful  account  of  the  work  performed  in  his 
district. 

How  many  road  districts  may  there  be  in  a  town  ? 

As  many  as  the  commissioners  of  highways 
determine. 

From  whom  do  the  overseers  receive  tax  lists  ? 
The  commissioners  of  highways. 

Do  they  receive  pay  ? 
They  do  not. 

What  are  the  duties  of  overseer  of  the  poor  ? 
To  provide  for  the  support  of  indigent  per- 
sons. 

How  many  constables  may  any  town  elect  ? 
Any  number  not  exceeding  five. 

What  are  their  powers  and  duties  ? 

To  serve  process,  to  make  arrests,  to  take 
charge  of  criminals  and  bring  them  to  court, 
to  attend  higher  courts  upon  the  order  of  the 


30         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN  *S   CATECHISM. 

sheriff,   and  to  lodge  persons  in  jail  when 
sentence  shall  have  been  passed. 

What  is  necessary  before  the  collector  can  enter 
upon  the  execution  of  his  duties  ? 

He  must  execute  a  bond. 
What  are  its  conditions  ? 

It  must  be  to  the  supervisor  of  the  town, 
with  one  or  more  sureties  approved  of  by  the 
supervisor,  in  double  the  amount  to  be  col- 
lected, and  for  the  faithful  execution  of  his 
duties. 

Suppose  he  fail  to  execute  a  bond  within  the  proper 
time  ? 

The  office  shall  be  deemed  vacant. 

How  may  the  vacancy  be  filled  ? 
The  supervisor  and  any  two  justices  may 
appoint. 

What  are  some  of  his  duties  ? 

To  obey  the  directions  contained  in  his 
warrant,  and  immediately  on  the  receipt  of 
the  warrant,  to  post  notices  in  five  public 
places  where  he  will  receive  taxes. 

How  is  he  paid  ? 


TOWNS.  ol 

He  has  one  per  cent,  on  all  moneys  that  are 
paid  in  to  him  for  the  first  thirty  days  after 
receiving  his  warrant,  and  five  per  cent,  on  all 
that  are  paid  thereafter. 

How  many  inspectors  of  election  does  each  town 
and  ward  elect  ? 

Three. 

In  what  manner  are  they  elected  ? 

Each  party  places  in  nomination  two  candi- 
dates, and  the  two  receiving  the  greatest 
number  of  votes  are  elected,  and  the  one 
who  received  the  greatest  number  of  votes  of 
another  party  is  appointed. 

What  are  some  of  their  duties  ? 

They  are  to  assemble  and  organize  them- 
selves into  a  board  by  electing  one  of  their 
number  chairman,  administering  to  each 
other  the  oath,  duly  open  the  polls  and  make 
proclamation  of  the  same,  appoint  two  clerks, 
administer  to  them  the  oath,  receive  the  votes 
of  the  electors  and  deposit  them  in  the  boxes, 
at  sunset  to  declare  the  polls  closed,  and  then 
count  the  votes  which  each  man  has  received, 
and  report  the  result  to  the  board  of  county 
canvassers. 


32         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

Suppose  a  voter  is  challenged  ? 

The  inspectors  administer  the  oath,  and  if 
he  swears  that  he  is  a  voter  he  may  deposit 
his  vote. 

What  officers  constitute  the  board  to  receive  votes 
at  a  town  meeting  ? 

The  justices  and  town  clerk. 

Who  acts  as  clerk  ? 
The  town  clerk. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  town  sealer. 

To  see  that  the  standards  of  weights  and 
measures  are  safely  kept,  and  to  see  that  all 
measures  brought  to  him  agree  with  his 
standards. 

Where  does  he  receive  his  standards  ? 
From  the  county  sealer. 

What  is  done  in  case  of  a  failure  to  elect  any  town 
officers  ? 

The  justices  may  appoint  any  officers  ex- 
cept supervisor,  overseer  of  the  poor,  over- 
seer of  the  highways,  and  collector. 


COUNTIES.  33 

SECTION    IV. 

COUNTIES. 

How  are  counties  erected  ? 
By  the  legislature. 

What  are  the  names  of  the  county  officers  ? 

Sheriff,  county  clerk,  county  treasurer,  dis- 
trict attorney,  superintendent  of  poor,  loan 
commissioner,  county  sealer  of  weights  and 
measures,  four  coroners,  county  judge,  keeper 
of  penitentiary  or  jail,  at  least  one  school 
commissioner  for  each  county,  and  a  surro- 
gate, wherever  the  population  of  the  county 
exceeds  forty  thousand. 

How  are  they  elected  ? 

By  ballot,  at  the  general  annual  election, 
except  county  sealer  of  weights  and  measures, 
and  the  keeper  of  penitentiary  or  jail,  who 
are  appointed  by  the  board  of  supervisors. 

How  long  do  they  hold  their  offices  ? 

The  loan  commissioners  hold  their  office 
two  years,  the  judges  and  surrogate  four 
years,  and  all  others  for  a  term  of  three  years. 


34         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

Can  a  sheriff  hold  any  other  office  ?  . 

He  can  not,  and  is  ineligible  to  the  office 
again  for  three  years  succeeding  his  term  of 
service. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  sheriff? 

He  must  file  an  oath  of  office  in  the  county 
clerk's  office,  and  give  a  bond  in  the  sum  of 
ten  thousand  dollars;*""  lie  shall  have  custody 
of  the  jail  of  his  county ;  he  may  call  out 
militia  to  aid  in  serving  process ;  he  must  be 
present  in  person  or  by  under-sheriff  at  the 
drawing  of  jurors,  and  must  summon  the 
same ;  he  must  execute  and  return  process ;  he 
must  send  to  the  secretary  of  state  a  report 
of  convicts,  <fcc. ;  he  must  keep  an  office  for 
service  of  papers. 

Can  he  act  as  counsellor  ? 
He  can  not. 

May  he  be  removed  from  office  ? 
Yes,  on  charges. 


By  whom  ? 
The  governor. 

May  he  resign  ? 


°  In  N.  T.  county  it  is  twenty  thousand  dollars. 


COUNTIES.  35 


He  may. 


To  whom? 

To  the  governor. 

How  may  a  vacancy  be  supplied  ? 
By  appointment  from  the  governor  until 
the  next  general  election. 

How  is  the  county  clerk  elected  ? 

By  the  people,  at  the  general  annual  elec- 
tion ;  and  lie  must  reside  in  the  county  for 
which  he  is  elected. 

Where  must  his  oath  of  office  be  filed  ? 

In  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  for 
which  he  is  elected,  on  or  before  the  fifteenth 
day  of  January  following  his  election. 

Must  he  appoint  a  deputy  ? 

Yes. 

For  how  long  a  term  is  he  elected  ? 
Three  years,  'and  shall  act  until  a  successor 
be  chosen. 

How  is  he  paid  ? 
By  fees. 

What  are  his  general  powers  and  duties? 


36         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

He  must  procure  a  seal,  to  be  used  by  him 
in  all  cases  requiring  his  official  seal ;  such 
seal  is  to  be  the  seal  of  the  county  court,  and 
supreme  court,  except  in  New  York  county ; 
his  office  must  be  kept  within  one  mile  of 
the  court-house,  and  must  be  kept  open  every 
day  in  the  year,  except  Sundays  and  the 
fourth  of  July,  from  9  A.  M.  till  12  M.,  and 
from  2  P.  M.  till  5  P.  M. ;  he  is  to  be  clerk 
of  supreme  court,  court  of  oyer  and  terminer, 
and  circuit  courts,  county  courts,  and  courts 
of  sessions,  except  in  New  York;  he  must 
attend  the  drawing  of  jurors,  and  make  re- 
turn of  jurors;  lie  may  take  affidavits;  he 
most  record  conveyances  and  mortgages,  and 
keep  indexes  to  books  on  record,  <kc. 

May  the  governor  remove  the  clerk  from  office? 

Yes,  on  a  sufficient  charge. 

How  may  a  vacancy  be  supplied  ? 

By  appointment  from  the  governor;  but 
the  consent  of  the  senate  is  necessary,  if  in 
session. 

How  is  the  county  treasurer  elected? 


COUNTIES.  37 

By  the  people,  at  the  general  annual  elec- 
tion. 

For  how  long  a  term  is  he  elected  ? 
Three  years,   the   term  to   commence   the 
first  Tuesday  in  August. 

Must  he  take  an  oath  of  office,  and  give  a  bond  the 
amount  to  be  fixed  by  the  board  of  supervisors  ? 

Yes,  and  file  the  same  in  the  county  clerk's 
office,  the  bond  to  be  filed  by  the  fifteenth 
of  December. 

What  are  his  general  duties? 

To  receive  and  pay  out  moneys  of  the 
county,  keep  an  account  of  receipts  and  ex- 
penditures, transmit  annually  to  the  comp- 
troller an  account  of  moneys  belonging  to  the 
state,  and  to  exhibit  his  books  and  accounts 
to  the  supervisors. 

How  is  he  paid? 

He  is  to  receive  one  half  of  one  per  cent,  on 
money  he  receives,  and  one  half  of  one  per 
cent,  on  money  he  disburses,  but  his  commis- 
sion is  not  to  exceed  five  hundred  dollars  in 
one  year. 

How  may  a  vacancy  in  office  be  supplied  ? 


38  THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

By  appointment  from  the  board  of  super- 
visors till  the  next  general  election. 

How  is  the  district  attorney  to  be  elected? 
By  the  people  at  the  general  election. 

For  how  long  a  term  is  he  elected  ? 
Three  years. 

Must  he  reside  in  the  county  in  which  he  is  elect- 
ed ? 

He  must. 

May  he  resign  ? 
He  may. 

To  whom  ? 

To  the  governor. 

May  another  be  appointed  at  his  non-appearance  at 
the  proper  time? 

There  may. 

By  whom? 
The  court. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  district  attorney  ? 

To  conduct  prosecutions  in  oyer  and  ter- 
miner, and  sessions ;  to  prosecute  for  penalties 
and  forfeitures  that  exceed  fifty  dollars ;   to 


COUNTIES.  39 

give  receipts  for  moneys  received  for  fines ;  to 
file  an  account  annually,  and  pay  over  moneys 
received  by  him  to  the  county  treasurer. 

May  the  partner  of  the  district  attorney  act  for 
defendant  in  any  proceeding  prosecuted  by  the  dis- 
trict attorney  ? 

He  may  not. 

May  any  person  who  has  acted  as  public  prosecutor 
defend  any  proceeding  in  which  he  shall  have  acted 
for  the  people  ? 

He  may  not. 

When  is  a  county  entitled  to  a  surrogate  ? 

When  it  has  a  population  of  forty  thou- 
sand. 

Who  performs  his  duties  in  other  cases? 
The  county  judge. 

How  is  he  elected  ? 
By  the  people. 

Is  it  necessary  that  the  surrogate  execute  a  bond  ? 

It  is. 

_  With  how  many  sureties  ? 
Two. 


40  THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

In  what  sum  ? 

Ten  thousand  dollars  in  the  county  of  New 
York,  and  five  thousand  in  all  other  coun- 
ties. 

Who  judges  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  sureties  ? 
The  county  clerk. 

Where  are  his  oath  of  office  and  bond  to  be  re- 
corded ? 

In  the  office  of  the  county  clerk. 

What  are  some  of  the  duties  of  the  surrogate  ? 

To  give  bonds,  receive  and  pay  over  fees, 
take  proof  of  wills,  of  real  and  personal 
property,  to  grant  letters  testamentary  and 
of  administration,  compel  return  of  inventory, 
revoke  letters,  direct  payment  of  legacies, 
compel  settlement  of  accounts  by  executors, 
administrators,  and  guardians,  direct  distri- 
bution, appoint  guardians  for  minors,  record 
wills,  <fcc. 

By  whom  were  loan  commissioners  formerly  ap- 
pointed ? 

By  the  governor,  with  the  consent  of  the 
senate. 

How  do  they  receive  their  office  now  ? 


COUNTIES.  41 

They  are  elected  by  the  people. 

How  long  do  they  serve  ? 
For  a  term  of  two  years. 

Where  is  their  oath  of  office  filed  ? 
In  the  office  of  the  comptroller. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  loan  commissioner? 

To  receive  and  loan  money  belonging  to  the 
United  States  deposit  fund,  and  on  all  money 
loaned  he  shall  receive  seven  per  cent,  for  the 
state. 

How  is  he  paid  ? 
By  fees. 

At  what  rate? 

Upon  any  sum  not  exceeding  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars,  they  may  retain  three- 
fourths  of  one  per  cent.,  and  upon  the  fur- 
ther sum  they  may  receive  one-half  of  one 
per  cent.,  unless  it  exceed  fifty  thousand  dol- 
lars, and  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  which 
case  they  shall  receive  but  one-fourth  of  one 
per  cent. 

How  many  coroners  are  there  in  each  county  ? 
Four. 


42  THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

How  long  do  they  hold  their  office? 
Three  years. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  coroners  ? 

They  shall  inquire  into  all  cases  where  per- 
sons have  been  slain,  or  mysteriously  died, 
where  investigation  is  deemed  necessary; 
shall  have  power  to  call  a  jury,  before  whom 
the  investigation  shall  be  held ;  may  issue 
subpoenas  for  witnesses ;  and,  in  case  the  jury 
find  that  a  murder  has  been  committed,  he 
may  bind  over  the  witnesses  to  appear  at  the 
next  criminal  court;  deliver  to  the  county 
treasurer  all  property  found  upon  the  body 
of  any  deceased  person  upon  which  he  shall 
have  held  an  inquest. 

How  are  coroners  paid  ? 

By  fees,  except  for  their  services  in  holding 
an  inquest,  which  shall  be  audited  by  the 
board  of  supervisors. 

How  are  school  commissioners  chosen? 

By  the  people,  at  the  general  election. 

For  how  long  a  term  ? 
Three  years. 


COUNTIES.  43 

What  are  his  general  duties? 

To  visit  all  the  schools  under  his  care  as  often 
as  practicable  ;  to  inform  himself  upon  all  mat- 
ters as  to  their  management  and  condition ; 
to  advise  and  counsel  district  school  officers ; 
to  alter  the  bounds  of  a  district ;  to  examine 
persons  presenting  themselves  as  candidates 
to  teach ;  to  grant  and  annul  licenses  to  teach ; 
to  organize  and  conduct  a  teachers'  institute 
as  often  as  once  in  each  year ;  and  to  report 
to  the  superintendent  of  public  instruction 
the  condition  of  the  schools  under  his  care, 
and  such  other  matter  as  the  superintendent 
may  require. 

May  any  commissioner  act  as  agent  for  any  author, 
publisher,  or  bookseller,  during  hio  term  of  office  ? 

He  may  not;  and  acting  in  that  capacity 
shall  be  considered  a  violation  of  his  official 
oath. 

May  he  resign  ? 
He  may. 

To  whom? 

The  clerk  of  the  county. 

Who  appoint  the  board  of  commissioners  of  ex- 
cise ? 


44         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

In  the  county  of  N.  Y.  the  chief  justice  of 
the  superior  court,  the  presiding  judge  of  the 
court  of  common  pleas,  and  the  recorder  of 
the  city  ;  in  all  other  counties,  the  county 
judge  and  justices  of  the  sessions,  or  a  ma- 
jority of  them. 

Of  what  must  this  board  consist  ? 
Three  reputable  freeholders,  who  must  be 
residents  of  the  county. 

For  how  long  a  term  are  they  appointed  ? 
Six  years. 

What  are  their  general  powers  and  duties  ? 

They  shall  meet,  at  the  place  where  the 
county  courts  are  required  to  be  held,  on  the 
third  Tuesday  of  May  in  each  year,  and  such 
other  days  as  a  majority  of  the  board  shall 
appoint  ;  in  the  city  of  N.  Y.  they  may  hold 
a  session  of  fifty  days — in  all  other  counties, 
not  longer  than  ten  days — for  the  purpose  of 
granting  licenses  to  persons  to  sell  spirituous 
liquors  ;  they  may  license  keepers  of  inns, 
taverns,  or  hotels,  to  sell  liquors  to  drink 
upon  their  premises  respectively  ;  they  may 
license  storekeepers  to  sell  liquors  in  quanti- 
ties less  than  five  gallons,  not  to  be  drank  on 


COUNTIES.  45 

their  premises.  In  towns  and  incorporated 
villages  tliey  shall  not  receive  less  than 
thirty  nor  more  than  one  hundred  dollars, 
and  in  cities  not  less  than  thirty  nor  more 
than  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars ;  the 
whole  sums  to  be  paid  over  to  the  county 
treasurer.  They  may  appoint  a  clerk  for  the 
time  thay  are  in  session,  who,  with  each 
member  of  the  board,  shall  receive  three 
dollars  per  day. 

How  do  county  sealers  receive  their  office  ? 
They  are  appointed  by  the  board  of  super- 
visors. 

How  long  do  they  hold  their  office  ? 
During  the  pleasure  of  the  board. 

How  are  they  paid  ? 
By  fees. 

How  is  the  county  judge  elected  ? 

By  the  people. 

For  how  long  a  term  ? 
Four  years- 
How  is  he  paid  ? 
By  a  salary  fixed  by  the  board  of  super- 


46        THE    YOUNG    CITIZEN 7S    COMPANION. 

visors,  which  shall  not  be  increased  or  dimin- 
ished during  his  term  of  office. 

What  are  his  general  duties  ? 
To  hold  courts  of  sessions,  and  to   hear 
appeals  from  justice  courts. 


SECTION    V. 
CHAPTER  I. 

STATES. 

How  are  states  erected  ? 

From  territories,  by  act  of  congress. 

What  are  the  requisites  for  the  formation  of  new 
states  ? 

It  is  discretionary  with  congress ;  but  this 
body  must  conform  to  sees.  3  and  4  of  art.  iv. 
of  the  constitution. 

Into  what  classes  are  the  officers  of  the  states  di- 
vided ? 

Three ;  representative,  judicial,  and  execu- 
tive. 

"Who  are  the  representative  officers  ? 
The  senators,  members  of  assembly,  and 
their  appointees. 

Who  are  the  judicial  officers  ? 
The  officers  of  all  courts. 

(4T) 


48       THE  young  citizen's  catechism. 

Who  are  the  executive  officers  ? 

The  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  secre- 
tary of  state,  comptroller,  treasurer,  attorney- 
general,  state  engineer  and  surveyor,  three 
hank  commissioners,  three  canal  commission- 
ers, three  state-prison  inspectors,  and  three 
assessors. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EEPKKSENTATIVE    OFFICERS. 

By  whom  are  the  members  of  assembly  chosen  ? 
The  people. 

How  many  are  chosen  in  the  state  ? 
One  hundred  and  twenty -eight. 

For  how  long  a  time  can  they  draw  pay  ? 
Only  one  hundred  days ;  unless  an  extra 
session  is  called. 

What  are  their  general  powers  and  duties  ? 

They  may  make  their  own  rules,  may  judge 
of  the  qualifications  of  its  members,  have 
power  to  impeach  any  civil  officer,  have 
power  to  punish  or  expel  its  members.   They 


REPRESENTATIVE    OFFICERS.  49 

sliall  assemble  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  Jan- 
nary,  and,  in  connection  with  the  senate,  shall 
pass  such  laws  as  they  may  wish.  They  shall 
be '  privileged  from  arrest  on  civil  process 
during  the  session,  and  for  fourteen  days  pre- 
vious to  the  opening  of  the  session,  and  they 
shall  assist  in  the  election  of  United  States 
senators. 

What  is  their  compensation  ? 

Three  dollars  per  day,  and  mileage  of  one 
dollar  for  every  ten  miles  of  travel  to  and 
from  the  capitol  once. 

For  how  long  are  senators  chosen  ? 
For  a  term  of  two  years. 

How  many  are  there  in  this  state  ? 
Thirty-two. 

What  are  their  general  powers  and  duties  ? 
They  have  the  same  as  the  members  of  as- 
sembly. 

What  other  duties  do  they  perform  ? 

They  are  members  of  the  court   for  the 
trial  of  impeachments,  with  the  governor  ; 
they  have  power  to  appoint  all  officers  whose 
appointment  is  not  otherwise  provided  for. 
3 


50         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

May  the  senators  or  members  of  assembly  receive 
the  appointment  of  any  civil  office  during  their  term 
of  office  ? 

Tliey  may  not. 

May  they  be  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  United  States 
senate  ? 

Not  during  their  term  of  office. 

What  is  the  law  respecting  the  time  at  which  the 
legislature  shall  assemble  ? 

The  legislature  shall  assemble  at  the  capi- 
tal, in  the  city  of  Albany,  on  the  first  Tues- 
day of  January  of  every  year.  [R  S.  5th 
eel.,  sec.  1,  title  2d,  chapter  7,  part  1.] 

Who  calls  the  assembly  to  order  ? 
The  clerk  of  the  previous  session,  who  acts 
as  presiding  officer  until  a  speaker  is  chosen. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  speaker  ? 

In  addition  to  the  duties  settled  upon  by 
parliamentary  practice,  it  is  his  duty  to  cer- 
tify to  all  bills  passed  by  the  house,  and  the 
pay  bills  of  the  members  and  officers,  and  to 
see  that  the  other  officers  of  the  house  prompt- 
ly (litharge  their  duty. 

By  whom  are  the  other  officers  sworn  ? 


REPRESENTATIVE    OFFICERS.  51 

The  speaker. 

What  is  the  compensation  of  the  speaker  ? 
Four  dollars  per  day,  and  mileage  as  other 
members. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  clerk  ? 

He  takes  the  minutes,  has  the  care  of  the 
records  and  papers,  and  is  the  disbursing  offi- 
cer of  the  house,  under  the  control  of  the 
comptroller. 

What  compensation  does  he  receive  ? 

A  salary  of  twelve  hundred  dollars  a  year. 

How  many  deputies'  may  he  appoint  ? 

Five ;  an  assistant,  a  journal  clerk,  an  en- 
grossing clerk,  and  two  others 'who  perform 
miscellaneous  duties. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  assistant  clerk  ? 

To  perform  such  duties  as  the  clerk  may 
desire,  and  in  his  absence  to  perform  his  du- 
ties. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  journal  clerk  ? 

To  keep  a  record  of  each  day's  proceedings 
and  read  the  proof  of  them  while  printing, 
to  make  copies  of  the  resolutions  offered  in 


52  THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

the  assembly,  to  keep  the  registers  of  bills 
and  the  book  of  general  orders,  and  to  prop- 
erly label  all  papers  presented. 

What  is  the  duty  of  the  engrossing  clerk  ? 

To  engross  all  bills  and  resolutions  ordered 
to  a  third  reading,  and  see  that  they  are 
signed  by  the  speaker  after  their  passage  ;  to 
deliver  them  to  the  clerk  of  the  other  house, 
or  to  the  governor,  and  make  an  entry  of  such 
delivery. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  senior  deputy  ? 

To  keep  the  pay  accounts  of  members  and 
officers,  and  make  out  certificates  for  per  diem 
mileage,  and  stationery. 

What  is  the  duty  of  the  junior  deputy  ? 

To  have  charge  of  all  papers  on  file,  and 
keep  them  conveniently  arranged,  and  de- 
liver them  to  the  officers  or  to  committees. 

Under  whoso  directions  are  the  deputy  clerks? 
The  clerk's,  who  may  modify  or  interchange 
their  duties  at  his  pleasure. 

"What  is  the  compensation  of  the  deputy  clerks  ? 
Six  hundred  dollars  a  year  each. 


REPRESENTATIVE    OFFICERS.  53 

What  other  officers  are  employed  ? 

A  librarian,  sergeant-at-arms,  postmaster, 
and  each  an  assistant,  a  janitor,  keeper  of  the 
assembly  chamber,  a  door-keeper,  and  as 
many  assistants  as  the  house  or  speaker  shall 
deem  necessary,  and  ten  messengers  author- 
ized by  statute,  and  fifteen  additional  ones. 

At  whose  hands  do  the  officers  receive  their  appoint- 
ment ? 

The  clerk,  sergeant-at-arms,  door-keeper,  and 
his  first  and  second  assistants,  are  elected  by 
the  house  ;  the  speaker  appoints  the  rest. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  librarian  ? 

He  is  to  have  charge  of  the  assembly  li- 
brary ;  allow  no  book  to  be  taken  from  it  ex- 
cept by  a  member,  officer,  or  reporter  of  the 
legislature;  he  is  personally  responsible  for 
all  books,  and  must  see  that  all  are  returned 
before  the  final  adjournment,  and  must  keep 
the  rooms  open  from  eight  o'clock  A.  M.  till 
nine  o'clock  P.  M.,  or  till  the  house  adjourns. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  sergeant-at-arms? 

He  is  police  officer  of  the  house,  assists  in 
enforcing  order,  and  sees  that  the  door-keepers 
perform,  their  duties.   He  has  the  care  of  the 


54  THE    YOUNG    CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

printed  documents  of  the  house,  distributes 
the  same  to  members,  aud  directs  the  messen- 
gers in  their  duties. 

What  is  the  business  of  the  door-keeper? 

.  To  guard  the  main  entrance,  admit  mem- 
bers, and  such  others  as  arc  entitled  to  a  seat 
by  the  rules  of  tli e  house.  He  should  seat  spec- 
tators in  a  proper  place,  and  should  be  in  at- 
tendance on  the  house  at  least  an  hour  before 
the  commencement  of  each  meeting. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  postmaster  ? 

He  transfers  from,  the  post-office  of  the 
house  to  the  city  post-office  the  mail  matter 
of  the  members,  having  first  placed  his  official 
seal  upon  it,  and  also  brings  to  the  post-office 
of  the  house  the  mail  matter  of  members. 

"What  is  the  duty  of  the  assistants,  in  the  several 
departments  ? 

To  perform  whatever  may  be  required  ot 
them  by  their  principals. 

What  is  the  duty  of  the  janitor? 

To  light  the  house  when  necessary,  to  pro- 
vide water  for  drinking  and  washing  purposes, 


REPRESENTATIVE    OFFICERS.  55  . 

to  wait  upon  committees,  and  to  carry  books 
and  stationery  to  and  from  the  house. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  keeper  of  the  assembly 
chamber  ? 

He  is  to  see  that  the  property  of  the  house 
and  of  members  is  not  disturbed ;  to  take  all 
property  left  in  the  house  into  his  charge ;  to 
lock  the  desks  of  members  in  case  they  fail 
to  do  so,  and  return  the  keys  to  the  occu- 
pants. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  messengers  ? 

They  wait  upon  members  in  various  ways, 
and  obey  the  directions  of  the  sergeant-at- 
arnis. 

'    What  officers  does  the  senate  appoint  ? 

The  same  as  the  assembly,  the  lieutenant- 
governor  acting  as  speaker  of  the  senate. 

What  officers  do  the  senate  and  assembly  jointly 
elect  ? 

Two  United  States  senators,  and  a  superin- 
tendent of  public  instruction. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  superintendent, 
of  public  instruction  ? 

To  visit  as  often  as  practicable  as  many  of  the 


50         THE   YOUNG   OITIZENS   CATECHISM. 

common  schools,  academies,  and  other  literary 
institutions  of  the  state  as  he  may  deem  ex- 
pedient; to  inquire  into  their  management 
and  course  of  instruction,  and  report  annual- 
ly to  the  legislature,  with  such  suggestions  as 
may  be  thought  Lest. 

What  position  does  lie  hold  by  virtue  of  his  offico  ? 

He  is  regent  of  the  university. 

How  long  is  his  term  of  office  ? 

Three  years. 

What  is  his  salary  ? 

Two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per 
year. 

Is  he  allowed  any  assistance  ? 

A  deputy  and  not  more  than  three  clerks,' 
whose  aggregate  salary  shall  not  exceed  three 
thousand  dollars. 

When  is  there  an  enumeration  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  state  taken  ? 

As  provided  in  sec.  iv.  of  art.  iii.  of  the 
constitution. 

Who  constitute  the  board  of  equalization  1 
The  commissioners  of  the  land  office  and 
three  state  assessors. 


REPRESENTATIVE    OFFICERS  57 

What  arc  their  general  duties? 

They  shall  equalize  the  state  tax  among 
the  counties  ;  fix  the  amount  of  real  and  per- 
sonal property  on  which  the  state  tax  shall 
be  levied,  and  they  shall  visit  officially  every 
county  of  the  state  once  in  two  years  for  this 
purpose. 

How  are  the  state  assessors  chosen  ? 
By  the  governor,  with  the  consent  of  the 
senate. 

How  long  do  they  serve  ? 
For  three  years. 

What  is  their  compensation  ? 

They  shall  each  receive  five  dollars  per  day 
necessarily  spent  in  the  discharge  of  official 
duties  and  travelling  expenses,  board  excepted, 
not  exceeding  three  hundred  dollars,  the  bill 
of  such  expenses  to  be  rendered  to  the  comp- 
troller in  items  with  the  affidavit  of  the  as- 
sessor. 


58         THE    YOUNG  CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

CHAPTER    III. 

JUDICIARY. 

What  are  the  members  of  the  several  courts  of  the 
state  of  New  York  ? 

They  are  the  court  for  the  trial  of  impeach- 
ments, court  of  appeals,  supreme  court,  cir- 
cuit courts,  court  of  oyer  and  terminer,  county 
courts,  court  of  sessions,  courts  of  special 
sessions,  surrogate  courts,  courts  of  justices 
of  the  peace,  police  courts,  mayors'  courts  of 
cities,  recorders'  courts  of  cities,  superior 
court  of  the  city  of  New  York,  court  of  com- 
mon pleas  for  the  city  and  county  of  New 
York,  marine  court  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
justices'  courts  in  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
the  justices'  courts  of  cities. 

What  is  the  jurisdiction  of  the  'courts  ? 

The  court  for  the  trial  of  impeachments, 
court  of  appeals,  supreme  court,  circuit  court, 
and  oyer  and  terminer,  have  a  general  juris- 
diction throughout  the  state;  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  other  courts  is  merely  local. 


JUDICIARY.  59 

Of  what  is  the  court  for  the  trial  of  impeachments 
composed  ? 

Of  the  judges  of  the  court  of  appeals,  presi- 
dent of  the  senate,  and  senators. 

« 

Of  what  is  the  court  of  appeals  composed  ? 

Of  eight  judges :  four  elected  by  the  people 
for  the  term  of  eight  years,  at  a  salary  of 
three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars;  the 
other  four  are  taken  from  the  judges  of  the  su- 
preme court  having  the  shortest  time  to  serve. 

What  power  has  this  court  ? 

It  has  power  to  reverse,  modify,  or  affirm, 
in  whole  or  in  part,  the  judgment  or  order 
apjDealed  from. 

How  many  terms  of  this  court  are  held,  and  where  ? 

There  shall  be  four  terms  of  this  court  held 
in  each  year  at  the  capitol  in  the  city  of 
Albany.  . 

How  may  judgment  be  rendered  ? 
A  concurrence  of  Hve  of  the  judges  is  neces- 
sary to  pronounce  judgment. 

How  if  five  do  not  concur  ? 
The  case  must   be  reheard,  but  no  more 
than  two  rehearings  shall  be  had,  and  then, 


60         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

if  five  of  the  judges  do  not  concur,  the  case 
shall  be  affirmed. 

Into  how  many  districts  is  the  state  divided  for 
supreme  court  purposes  ? 

Eight. 

How  are  the  supreme  court  judges  elected,  and  for 
how  long  ? 

By  the  people,  and  for  eight  years. 

What  is  their  salary  ? 

Three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 

Which  is  tbe  presiding  judge,  and  what  is  the  man- 
ner of  doing  business  ? 

The  judge  in  each  district,  not  in  the  court 
of  appeals,  and  having  the  shortest  time  to 
serve.  This  court  holds  general  terms,  special 
terms,  and  circuit ;  also  court  of  oyer  and 
terminer,  which  is  held  at  the  same  time 
with  circuit.  In  counties  where  the  popu- 
lation exceeds  forty  thousand,  there  is  a 
general  term  held  as  often  as  once  in  each 
year ;  in  other  counties,  as  often  as  once  in  two 
years  :  there  are  at  least  two  special  terms 
in  each  county  in  every  year,  and  two  circuit 
courts.     On  the   second  day  of  January  of 


EXECUTIVE.  61 

every  second  year  there  is  a  general  term 
held  at  the  capitol,  for  the  purpose  of  ap- 
pointing general  and  special  terms  of  *all 
circuit  courts  and  courts  of  oyer  and  terminer, 
of  assigning  business  of  justices,  and  revising 
the  rules  of  practice. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

EXECUTIVE. 

How  often  are  the  governor,  lieutenant-governor, 
secretary  of  state,  comptroller,  treasurer,  attorney, 
general,  state  engineer,  and  surveyor  chosen  ? 

Once  in  two  years. 

By  whom  ? 

The  people. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  governor  ? 

He  communicates  to  the  legislature  the 
financial  condition  of  the  state;  he  recom- 
mends such  measures  as  he  may  deem  ex- 
pedient; he  has  charge  of  the  general  ex- 
ecution of  the  laws;  he  may  convene  the 
legislature,  or  the  senate  only  ;  he  has  power 
to  grant  pardon  for  all  offences  except  trea- 


62         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

son ;  he  has  custody  of  the  great  and  privy 
seals  of  the  state,  and  has  command  of  the 
military  and  naval  force  of  the  state. 

What  is  his  salary  ? 

Four  thousand  dollars  per  annum. 

What  officers  does  he  appoint  with  the  consent  of 
the  senate  ? 

The  regents  of  the  university,  and  public 
notaries. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  regents  ? 

They  have  the  care  of  all  the  incorporated 
academies,  seminaries,  and  colleges,  regulate 
the  government  of  them,  and  report  their 
condition  annually  to  the  legislature. 

What  compensation  have  they  ? 
None,   except  the  secretary,  who  receives 
two  thousand  dollars  per  annum. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  a  notary  public  ? 

He  demands  acceptance  and  payment  of 
foreign  bills  of  exchange,  of  inland  bills,  and 
promissory  notes,  and  protests  the  same  for 
non-acceptance  and  non-payment. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  lieutenant- 
governor  ? 


EXECUTIVE.  63 

He  presides  over  the  senate,  is  commissioner 
of  the  canal  fund  and  land  office,  member. of 
the  canal  board,  trustee  of  the  idiot  asylum, 
regent  of  the  university,  trustee  of  the  capitol 
and  new  state  hall,  and  acts  as  governor  in 
case  of  a  vacancy  occurring  in  that  office. 

What  is  his  compensation  ? 
Six  dollars  per  day. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  secretary  of 
state  •? 

He  shall  have  custody  of  all  books,  deeds, 
records,  and  papers  that  belong  to  his  office ; 
provide  books  for  recording,  and  record  in 
them  all  matters  belongdn^  to  the  functions 
of  his  office ;  attend  legislature  for  the  pur- 
pose of  receiving  bills  that  become  laws; 
transmit  to  various  officers  copies  of  the 
session  laws;  cause  the  session  laws  to  be 
bound ;  and  administer  the  constitutional  oath 
to  the  members  of  assembly. 

What  other  positions  does  he  hold  by  virtue  of  his 

office  ? 

He  is  regent  of  i he  university,  commissioner 
of  the  land  office  and  canal  fund,  member  of 
the  canal  board  and  board  of  state  canvass- 


64         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

ers,  trustee  of  the  capitol,  new  state   hall, 
and  of  the  idiot  asylum. 

What  is  his  salary  ? 

Two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per 
year. 

May  he  employ  clerks  ? 
He  may. 

By  whom  are  they  pai<l  ? 

By  the  state,  to  the  amount  of  four  thou- 
sand two  hundred  dollars  per  year. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  comptroller? 

To  require  persons  receiving  public  money 
to  account  to  him,  give  directions  concerning 
the  transmission  to  him  of  public  money,  pay 
the  expense  of  such  transmission,  cause  per- 
sons presenting  accounts  to  make  oath  to 
them,  keep  an  account  between  the  state  and 
treasurer;  he  is  auditor  of  public  accounts, 
except  those  payable  from  the  canal  and 
bank  funds. 

What  other  positions  does  he  hold  by  virtue  of  his 
office? 

Commissioner  of  the  land  office  and  canal 
funds,  member  of  the  canal  board,  trustee  of 


EXECUTIVE.  65 

the  capitol,  idiot  asylum,  and  the  new  state 
hall. 

What  is  his  salary  ? 

Two  thousand  five   hundred   dollars   per 

year. 

What  assistance  is  he  allowed  ? 

A  deputy,  an  accountant,  and  eleven  clerks. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  state  treasurer  ? 

He  receives  the  state  moneys,  pays  drafts 
on  the  warrants  of  the  comptroller;  he  is 
auditor  of  the  canal  department,  superintend- 
ent of  the  bank  department,  and  the  super- 
intendent of  public  instruction. 

What  positions  does  he  hold  by  virtue  of  his  office? 

Commissioner  of  the  land  office  and  canal 
fund,  member  of  the  canal  board,  and  board 
of  state  canvassers. 

What  is  his  salary  ? 

One  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  year. 

What  assistance  is  he  allowed  ? 

A  deputy,  book-keeper,  and  clerk. 

To  what  amount  must  he  execute  a  bond  ? 


66         THE   YOUNG  CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

In  the  sum  of  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

How  often,  and  to  whom  must  he  report  ? 
Annually,  to  the  legislature. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  attorney-gen- 
eral? 

To  defend  and  prosecute  all  suits  in  which 
the  state  is  interested ;  receive  all  costs  in 
any  actions  which  shall  have  been  adjudged 
to  the  state ;  prepare  drafts  for  the  comptrol- 
ler and  surveyor-general ;  attend  the  sessions 
of  the  legislature  ;  attend  courts  of  oyer  and 
terminer,  when  directed  to  by  the  governor, 
or  judge  of  the  supreme  court ;  keep  a  regis- 
ter of  suits ;  and  he  may  employ  additional 
counsel  if  necessary. 

What  positions  does  he  occupy  by  virtue  of  his 
office? 

Commissioner  of  the  land  office  and  canal 
fund,  member  of  the  canal  board  and  of  the 
state  canvassers,  and  trustee  of  the  capitol 
and  new  state  hall. 

What  is  his  salary  ? 

Two  thousand  dollars  per  year. 


EXECUTIVE.  67 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  state  engineer 
and  surveyor  ? 

To  superintend  surveys  and  sales  of  state 
lands  ;  keep  in  his  office  a  map  of  the  state ; 
order  a  resurvey  of  town  lines  where  they 
are  lost ;  resurvey  where  there  is  a  dispute, 
and  settle  the  dispute  ;  see  that  the  determi- 
nation be  filed  in  the  office  of  the  secretary 
of  state ;  and  account  to  the  comptroller  for 
all  moneys  received  by  him. 

What  position  does  he  hold  by  virtue  of  his  office? 

Trustee  of  state  hall,  commissioner  of  the 
land  office,  member  of  the  canal  board,  and 
board  of  state  canvassers. 

What  is  his  salary  ? 

Two  thousand  five  hundred  dollars. 

Must  he  be  a  practical  engineer  ? 
He  must. 

How  much  is  he  allowed  for  clerk  hire  ? 
Any  sum  not  exceeding  fifteen  hundred 
dollars. 

How  many  canal  commissioners  in  the  state  ? 
Three. 


68         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

By  whom  arc  they  elected,  and  for  how  long  a 
term? 

By  the  people,  and  for  three  years,  being 
so  arranged  that  one  is  elected  each  year. 

What  are  their  general  powers  and  duties  ? 

To  make  regulations  determining  the  size 
and  structure  of  "boats  and  all  rafts  on  the 
waters  of  the  canal ;  to  mate  suitable  pro- 
vision for  the  weighing  and   inspecting  of 

boats;  keep  in  repair  the  whole  line  of 
the  canals,  including  their  locking,  all  toll- 
houses, wei ^liing-scales,  and  all  offices  used 
by  the  canals;  inquire  into  .the  conduct  of 
all  the  subordinate  officers  on  the  canals; 
have  the  general  care  and. superintendence  of 
all  canals  in  the  state,  and  report  the  same 
to  the  legislature  within  twenty  days  of  the 
commencement  of  its  annual  session. 

Must  each  commissioner  execute  a  bond  ? 

He  must. 

In  what  sum  ? 

Twenty  thousand  dollars. 

What  is  the  salary  of  each  ? 

Seventeen  hundred  dollars  per  year. 


EXECUTIVE.  69 

What  officers  constitute  the  commissioners  of  the 
canal  fund  ? 

The  lieutenant-governor,  secretary  of  state, 
comptroller,  treasurer,  and  attorney-general. 

What  officers  constitute  the  canal  board  ? 

The  commissioners  of  the  canal  fund,  the 
state  engineer  and  surveyor,  and  the  canal 
commissioners. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  canal  auditor  ? 

He  issues  warrants  for  payments  out  of  the 
canal  fund ;  he  submits  annually  to  its  com- 
missioners a  statement  of  the  receipts  and 
payments;  he  instructs  disbursing  and  col- 
lecting agents ;  and  has  the  direction  of  the 
financial  department  of  the  canal. 

How  does  he  receive  his  office?  ^ 

By  appointment. 

For  how  long  a  term  ? 
Two  years. 

What  is  his  salary  ? 

Two  thousand  live  hundred  dollars  per 
year. 

What  are  the  general  powers  and  duties  of  state- 
prison  inspectors  ? 


70  THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN?S    CATECHISM. 

They  have  the  superintendence  of  all  prisons 
of  the  state ;  they  appoint  all  officers  therein; 
visit  jointly  as  often  as  once  in  each  year  each 
state-prison ;  inquire  into  the  government  of 
each,  and  make  such  provision  for  its  future 
as  they  may  think  best ;  investigate  cases  of 
improper  conduct,  and  cause  all  minor  officers 
to  report  any  matter  to  them  respecting  the 
state-prison ;  to  visit  and  inspect  separately 
or  collectively,  as  often  as  once  in  each  year, 
each  county  prison  in  the  state,  and  report 
the  whole  of  their  proceedings  to  the  legis- 
lature annually. 

How  long  do  they  serve  ? 
Three  years. 

When  and  by  whom  are  they  elected  ? 
At  the  general  election,  and  by  the  people, 
in  such  a  manner  that  one  is  elected  each  year. 

What  is  their  salary  ? 

Sixteen  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

May  an  inspector  be  an  agent  or  contractor  in  any 
prison  ? 
He  must  not. 

Who  may  remove  an  inspector  for  misconduct  ? 
The  governor. 


SECTION    VI 


CHAPTER  I. 

UNITED   STATES. 

Into  what  departments  of  government  are  the  United 
States  divided  ? 

Three ;  legislative,  judicial,  and  executive. 

Where  is  the  legislative  power  vested  ? 

In  the  senate  and  house  of  representatives. 

How  long  do  the  senators  hold  their  office  ? 
For  a  term  of  six  years. 

By  whom  are  they  elected  ? 

The  legislatures  of  the  several  states. 

How  long  do  the  representatives  hold  their  office  ? 
For  a  term  of  two  years. 

By  whom  are  they  elected  ? 

(ID 


72         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

By  the  people  ;  except  in  South  Carolina, 
where  they  are  elected  by  the  legislature. 

How  many  people  does  one  member  represent  ? 
At  present  a  fraction  over  93,000. 

How  is  the  number  of  representatives  in  any  slave 

state  ascertains!  ? 

By  adding  to  the  white  population  three- 
fifths  of  the  number  of  the  slaves  in  the  state, 
and  dividing  that  sum  by  the  number  that 
one  man  represents. 

What  must  be  the  qualifications  of  members  of  the 
house  of  representatives  ? 

They  must  be  twenty-five  years  of  age  ; 
they  must  have  been  citizens  of  the  United 
States  for  seven  years ;  they  must,  when 
elected,  be  inhabitants  of  the  state  for  which 
they  are  chosen. 

How  many  senators  is  each  state  entitled  to  ? 
Two. 

How  are  they  classed  ? 

So  that  one-third  shall  go  out  of  office 
every  two  years,  and  others  be  elected  to  fill 
their  places. 


UNITED    STATES.  73 

What  are  the  qualifications  for  senator  ? 

He  must  be  thirty  years  of  age;  lie  must 
have  been  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  for 
nine  years  ;  and  must  be  an  inhabitant  of 
the  state  from  which  he  is  chosen. 

What  are  the  general  powers  and  duties  of  con- 
gress ? 

To  pass  laws  for  the  regulation  of  the  gen- 
eral government,  to  impose  duties,  to  collect 
taxes,  to  provide  for  the  common  defence  and 
general  welfare  of  the  United  States,  to  bor- 
row money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States, 
and  such  other  duties  as  are  specified  in  the 
constitution. 

What  is  the  compensation  of  the  members  of  each 
house  ? 

Three  thousand  dollars  per  year  each. 

Are  they  entitled  to  any  further  compensation  ? 

Yes  ;  a  mileage  fee  of  eight  dollars  for 
every  twenty  miles  of  direct  mail  route  from 
their  residence  to  Washington. 

Who  are  the  judges  of  the  election  of  members? 
Each  house  for  its  own  members. 

Who  elect  a  president  in  case  the  people  fail  to  do  so? 

4 


74         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

The  house  of  representatives. 

In  what  way  is  a  president  thus  chosen  ? 

The  delegation  from  each  state  has  one 
vote,  and  they  are  to  vote  for  those  five  who 
have  the  greatest  number  of  electoral  votes. 

How  is  the  vice-president  thus  chosen  ? 

The  one  is  vice-president  who  has  the  great- 
est number  of  electoral  votes. 

"What  is  done  in  case  of  a  tie? 
The  senate  choose  one  of  the  number  upon 
which  there  is  a  tie. 

Who  is  president  of  the  senate  ? 
The  vice-president. 

Who  is  president  of  the  house  of  representatives  ? 
They  elect  one  of  their  number  as  speaker. 

What  compensation  is  he  entitled  to  ? 
Double  that  of  the  other  members. 

What  other  officers  is  each  house  entitled  to  ? 
Speaker,  clerk,  sergeant-at-arms,  door-keep- 
er, postmaster,  and  public  printer. 

Who  is  speaker  in  the  senate  % 
The  vice-president. 


UNITED    STATES.  75 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  speaker  1 
In  addition  to  the  customary  duties  devolv- 
ing upon  presidents  of  deliberative  bodies,  he 
shall  examine  the  journal,  have  direction  of 
the  hall,  admit  reporters;  shall  sign  acts, 
writs,  etc.,  and  checks ;  shall  certify  to  com- 
pensation of  members ;  shall  fix  the  amount 
and  approve  the  surety  of  sergeant- at-arms' 
bond  ;  and  shall  have  disposal  of  the  rooms 
of  the  capitol. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  clerk  1  * 
In  addition  to  the  duties  devolving  upon 
secretaries  of  deliberative  bodies,  he  shall 
execute  a  bond,  with  one  or  more  sureties  to 
be  approved  by  the  comptroller  of  the  treas- 
ury, in  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars, 
for  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duties  ;  shall 
certify  to  bills  which  pass;  shall  sign  all 
house  bills  which  pass  ;  puts  questions  before 
the  election  of  speaker  ;  and  continues  in  of- 
fice till  a  successor  is  elected. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  sergeant-at-arms? 

He  shall  keep  the  account  of  the  pay  and 
mileage  of  members  ;  prepare  checks,  and 
draw  the  money  on  them  if  it  is  desired  ;  shall 


76         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

give  a  bond  of  from  five  to  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars ;  is  sworn  to  keep  the  secrets  of  the 
house  ;  and  to  assist  the  speaker  in  preserv- 
ing order. 

How  is  he  paid  1 
By  fees. 

How  many  printers  are  there  elected  % 
One  for  each  house. 

How  long  a  time  are  they  allowed  in  the  perform- 
ance of  any  job  ? 

Thirty  days. 

What  are  their  general  duties  ? 

To  print  such  matter  as  may  be  required  of 
them  to  print  by  the  house  of  which  they  are 
printer,  and  to  be  under  its  direction. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  door-keeper  1 
He  announces  at  the  door  of  the  house  all 
messages  from  the  president  and  other  house, 
keeps  the  door  of  the  house,  folds  and  dis- 
tributes extra  documents,  furnishes  members 
with  extra  documents,  conveys  messages  from 
members,  and  keeps  the  hall  in  order. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  assistants  in 


UNITED    STATES.  77 

clerks',  sergeant-at-arms',  door-keepers',  etc.,  depart- 
ments ? 

They  are  tlie  same  as  those  devolving  upon 
similar  officers  in  the  New  York  legislature. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  postmaster  in 
congress  ? 

To  superintend  the  post-office  kept  for  the 
accommodation  of  its  members ;  furnish  sta- 
tionery to  members  and  committees ;  deliver, 
upon  the  arrival  of  the  mails,  all  mail  matter 
received  for  members ;  deliver  at  the  city 
post-office  mail  matter  deposited  in  his  office 
by  members. 

Where  may  be  found  the  duties  01  the  remainder 
of  the  officers  of  either  house  1 

Among  the  appointed  officers  in  the  New 

York  legislature. 

Have  the  house  and  senate  the  same  number  of  ap- 
pointed officers  ? 

They  have  the  same,  except  that  the  house 
has  more  assistants  in  the  several  depart- 
ments. 


What  is  a  committee  of  the  whole  1 
It    i 
house. 


It  is   a  committee  embracing  the   entire 


78         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

How  is  it  appointed  ? 

On  motion  of  some  member,  who  moves 
that  the  house  go  into  a  committee  of  the 
whole. 

On  the  carriage  of  this  motion,  what  is  the  next 
duty  of  the  president  % 

To  appoint  some  one  as  chairman  of  the 
committee,  while  he  takes  a  seat  with  the 
memlxTs. 

How  does  the  house  come  in  possession  of  the  re- 
port ? 

The  chairman  of  the  committee  vacates  the 
chair,  the  president  resumes  it,  and  the  chair- 
man reports  the  matter  to  the  house. 

What  is  the  form  of  proceeding  when  returning 
from  a  committee  of  the  whole  to  the  house  1 

Some  one  moves  that  the  committee  do  now 
rise  and  report.  This  being  carried,  the 
chairman  vacates  the  chair,  which  is  immedi- 
ately resumed  by  the  president.  The  chair- 
man then  rises  and  says  : 

Mr.  President. 

The  president  responds : 

Mr.  Chairman. 

The  chairman  proceeds : 


UNITED    STATES.  79 

"  The  committee  of  the  whole  have  had 
under  consideration  the  [here  name  the  sub- 
ject], have  made  some  progress  therein,  and 
have  directed  their  chairman  to  report  the 
fact  to  the  house,  and  ask  leave  to  sit  again ;" 
or,  if  they  have  concluded  their  business,  he 
reports  the  fact,  and  asks  the  concurrence  of 
the  house  therein. 

When  is  a  motion  to  adjourn  in  order  % 
Always ;  except  when  a  person  is  speaking, 

when  a  vote  is  being  taken,  or  when  a  motion 

to  adjourn  has  just  been  taken. 

Can  a  motion  to  adjourn  be  amended  ? 
It  can  be,  if  no  other  business  is  before  the 
house. 

Is  a  motion  to  adjourn  debatable  ? 
It  is  not. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  a  motion  to  lay  a  subject 
on  the  table  ? 

It  signifies  that  the  subject  is  to  be  laid 
aside  until  it  is  the  pleasure  of  the  house  to 
consider  it. 

Can  a  motion  to  lie  on  the  table  be  amended  or  de- 
bated % 


80         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM.  * 

It  can  not. 

What  is  a  motion  to  amend  ? 
It  is  a  motion  to  change,  in  some  of  its 
bearings,  a  former  motion. 

What  is  the  signification  of  a  motion  to  commit1? 

It  proposes  to  leave  certain  matters  which 
have  taken  the  attention  of  the  house,  and 
leave  them  with  a  committee. 

What  is  meant  by  dividing  the  question  ? 

When  a  motion  embraces  several  distinct 
parts,  it  is  sometimes  moved  to  try  the  sense 
of  the  house  upon  the  parts  separately  :  this 
is  called  dividing  the  question. 

When  a  motion  is  moved,  seconded,  and  stated  by 
the  president,  can  it  be  withdrawn  by  the  mover  1 

It  can  not ;  but  must,  if  set  aside,  be  done 

by  motion. 

What  is  a  motion  to  reconsider  1 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a  motion  passes 
the  house  rather  prematurely,  in  which  case 
some  one  may  move  that  we  again  consider 
the  subject. 

Who  may  move  the  reconsideration  of  a  question  ? 


UNITED   STATES.  81 

Properly  no  one  except  a  person  who  voted 
with  the  majority. 

When  is  a  person  in  possession  of  the  floor  1 

After  he  has  risen  in  accordance  with  the 
usages  of  the  assembly  and  respectfully  ad- 
dressed himself  to  the  presiding  officer,  and 
the  presiding  officer  has  recognized  him  by 
calling  his  name. 

Can  a  person  be  refused  a  hearing  when  once  fairly 
in  possession  of  the  floor  1 

He  can  not,  as  long  as  he  observes  the  rules 
of  order  and  the  decencies  of  debate,  unless, 
by  special  rule,  he  has  occupied  his  time. 

Is  it  ever  in  order  to  interrupt  a  member  when 
speaking  upon  a  subject  before  the  house  % 

He  may  be  interrupted  by  a  call  to  order. 

What  is  the  form  usually  employed  for  a  call  to  or- 
der 1 

A  member  rises  and  says,  "  Mr.  President, 
I  call  the  member  to  order."  The  member 
who  has  been  speaking  should  stop  and  sit 
while  the  president  should  say,  u  Will  the 
member  state  his  point  of  order?"  The 
member  then  states  his  point  of  order.  The 
4* 


82         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

president  then  states  that  "  the  point  was  im- 
material, and  the  member  may  proceed,"  un- 
less an  appeal  is  taken,  or  the  president  says 
u  the  point  was  well  taken,  and  the  member 
will  be  in  order." 

What  may  a  person  called  to  order  do  ? 
He  may  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the 
president  to  the  house. 

What  form  is  employed  1 

"  Mr.  President,  I  most  respectfully  appeal 
from  your  decision." 

What  is  next  is  order? 

The  president  states  that  "  the  decision  of 
the  chair  has  been  appealed  from."  He  may 
or  may  not  invite  discussion,  but  the  next 
question  is  stated  by  the  president  as  follows : 
11  Shall  the  decision  of  the  chair  be  sustained?" 
If  the  chair  is  sustained,  the  member  should 
take  his  seat ;  if  not,  he  may  proceed. 

In  a  permanently  organized  meeting,  what  is  the 
first  thing  to  be  done  after  a  call  to  order  ? 

The  secretary  should  read  the  minutes  of 
the  last  meeting. 

Is  a  vote  of  the  house  necessary  to  their  approval  ? 


JUDICIARY.  83 

It  is  not  j  the  president  may  say,  ' '  if  there 
are  no  objections  to  the  minutes,  they  will 
stand  approved." 

Suppose  an  error  is  detected  ? 

A  motion  to  correct  [stating  the  error  and 
the  correction].  It  being  made,  the  presi- 
dent says,  "  Shall  the  minutes,  as  corrected, 
be  approved  V1  If  decided  affirmatively,  the 
minutes  stand  as  corrected. 


CHAPTER    II. 

JUDICIARY. 

By  the  constitution  how  is  the  judicial  power  of 
the  United  States  vested  ? 

In  one  supreme  court,  and  in  such  inferior 
courts  as  the  congress  from  time  to  time 
establishes. 

Of  what  does  the  supreme  court  at  present  consist  ? 
Of  one  chief  justice   and  eight  associate 
justices. 

How  and  where  is  the  supreme  court  held  ? 
Annually,  in  the  city  of  Washington. 


84         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

Are  the  supreme  court  judges  appointed,  or  elected  % 
Appointed. 

How  ? 

By  the  president,  with  the  consent  of  the 
senate. 

For  how  long  a  term  are  they  appointed  ? 

During  good  behavior ;  that  is,  they  can  not 
be  removed  so  long  as  they  capably  and 
faithfully  discharge  their  duties,  during 
which  time  neither  the  president  nor  con- 
gress has  any  authority  over  them. 

In  what  cases  has  this  court  jurisdiction? 

Of  all  cases  in  which  the  United  States 
shall  be  a  party ;  of  controversies  between 
citizens  of  different  states,  and  between  citi- 
zens of  the  same  states  claiming  lands  under 
grants  from  different  states,  and  between 
the  citizens  of  one  state  and  foreign  states. 

What  is  the  second  court  in  importance  established 
by  congress  ? 

The  circuit  court  of  the  United  States. 

Into  how  many  circuits  are  the  United  States 
divided  ? 


JUDICIARY.  85 

Nine,  in  each  of  which  a  circuit  court  is 
held  twice  every  year. 

By  whom  are  the  circuit  courts  held  ? 

By  one  of  the  United  States  supreme  court 
judges,  assisted  by  the  judge  of  the  district 
court  of  the  United  States  where  the  court 
sits. 

What  are  the  names  of  the  circuits  ? 

1.  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts, 
and  Rhode  Island. 

2.  Vermont,  Connecticut,  and  New  York. 

3.  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania. 

4.  Delaware,  Maryland,  and  Virginia. 

5.  Alabama  and  Louisiana. 

6.  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and 
Georgia. 

7.  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Michigan. 

8.  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri. 

9.  Mississippi  and  Arkansas. 

What  is  the  jurisdiction  of  the  circuit  court  ? 

Each  circuit  court  has  jurisdiction  of  all 
crimes  committed  in  the  district  asrainst  the 
laws  of  the  United  States ;  appeals  may  be 
brought  from  the  district  to  the  circuit,  and 


86  THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

in  civil  matters  the  sum  in  controversy  must 
not  exceed  five  hundred  dollars. 

What  is  the  next  class  of  inferior  courts  of  the 
United  States  ? 

The  district  courts. 

Into  how  many  districts  are  the  United  States 
divided  ? 

Into  thirty-seven  districts,  to  each  of  which 
there  is  a  district  court  and  a  district  judge, 
an  attorney  and  marshal,  who  reside  in  the 
district  for  which  they  are  appointed. 

Of  what  have  these  district  courts  jurisdiction  ? 

Of  cases  for  penalties  and  forfeitures  under 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  for  seizure  on 
the  water  within  three  miles  of  the  shore, 
where  the  United  States  are  plaintiffs,  where 
consuls  and  vice-consuls  are  defendants,  for 
repeal  of  letters  patent  for  inventions,  etc. 

What  officers  in  each  of  the  district  courts  of  the 
United  States  ? 

A  judge,  an  attorney,  and  marshal. 
What  is  their  compensation  ? 

The  judge  has  a  salary  of  two  thousand  dol- 


EXECUTIVE.  87 

lars  per  year  ;  the  others  have  two  hundred 
dollars  and  fees. 

By  whom  is  the  census  of  the  United  States  taken  ? 
By  persons  appointed  by  the  marshal  or 
his  deputies. 

Plow  often  ? 

Once  in  ten  years. 

How  are  these  persons  paid  ? 
By  fees. 

Is  there  still  another  inferior  court  established  by 
congress  ? 

There  are  the  territorial  courts — that  is, 
the  courts  held  in  the  territories  of  the 
United  States. 


CHAPTER     III. 

EXECUTIVE. 

Who  is  the  chief  of  the  executive  department  ? 
The  president. 

How  are  the  president  and  vice-president  chosen  ? 
By  electors. 


88         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

How  are  the  electors  chosen  P 

They  are  chosen  by  the  people  in  all  the 
states  except  in  South  Carolina,  where  they 
are  chosen  by  the  legislature. 

To  how  many  doctors  is  each  state  entitled? 
As    many    as  it    has  representatives   and 
senators  in  congress. 

What  is  the  manner  of  their  election  ? 

Each  party  in  the  several  states  nominates 
a  person  for  elector  in  each  congressional 
district,  and  two  others  are  nominated  any- 
where in  the  state,  called  electors  at  large ; 
ajid  the  electors  receiving  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  votes  are  elected. 

In  what  way  do  the  electors  proceed  when  elected  ? 

They  meet  in  their  several  states  on  the 
first  Wednesday  of  December,  and  vote  for 
president  and  vice-president ;  they  make,  sign, 
and  seal  three  certificates  of  all  the  votes 
given  by  them;  two  of  these  copies  are  scut 
to  the  president  of  the  senate ;  one  by  mail, 
the  other  by  a  person  whom  they  appoint; 
the  third  is  delivered  to  the  United  States 
judge  of  the  district  in  which  the  electors 
are  assembled. 


EXECUTIVE.  89 

What  is  next  done  with  the  certificates  ? 

On  the  second  Wednesday  of  February, 
the  president  of  the  senate,  in  presence  of  all 
the  senators  and  representatives,  opens  the 
certificates  from  all  the  states,  and  the  votes 
are  counted.  The  person  having  a  majority 
of  all  the  votes  cast  shall  be  president. 

Suppose  no  person  has  a  majority  of  all  the  electoral 
votes  ? 

In  such  a  case  the  house  of  representatives 
must  choose  the  president  from  those  can- 
didates, not  exceeding  three,  who  had  the 
highest  number  of  electoral  votes;  but  in 
so  voting,  the  whole  delegation  from  each 
state  shall  have  but  one  vote,  that  vote  in 
each  case  to  be  determined  by  a  majority  in 
each  delegation. 

How  is  the  vice-president  chosen  in  the  case  of  a 
failure  to  choose  by  the  electors  ? 

The  senate  must  choose  one  of  the  two 
who  re-ceived  the  greatest  number  of  votes. 

When  is  it  that  the  vice-president  becomes  presi- 
dent ?  " 

In  case  the  house  of  representatives  fail  to 
elect  a  president,  the  senate  having  elected  a 


90         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

vice-president,  he  becomes  president  on  ac- 
count of  a  vacancy  occurring  in  that  office. 

Where  may  the  qualifications  for  president  be 
found? 

In  sec.  1,  art.  ii.,  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States. 

Where  may  the  general  duties  of  the  president  be 
found  ? 

In  sees.  2  and  3  of  art.  ii.  of  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

What  is  the  salary  of  the  president  ? 
Twenty-five  thousand  dollars  per  year. 

May  he  be  removed  from  office  ? 
.  He  may  on  conviction  of  any  high  crime. 

What  are  the  duties  of  vice-president  ? 

He  performs  the  duties  of  a  presiding 
officer  in  the  United  States  senate  ;  and  in 
case  of  vacancy  in  the  office  of  president,  he 
becomes  president. 

Who  then  becomes  vice-president  ? 

The  senate  elect  one  of  their  number. 

Who  acts  as  president  in  case  of  a  vacancy  occurring 
in  the  offices  of  president  and  vice-president? 


EXECUTIVE.  91 

Congress  may  determine  by  law  who  shall 
be  president. 

What  is  the  salary  of  the  vice-president  ? 
Six  thousand  dollars  per  year. 

Who  appoints  embassadors  and  all  foreign  minis- 
ters ? 

The  president,  with  the  consent  of  the 
senate. 

What  are  their  general  duties  ? 

To  represent  their  country  in  a  foreign 
country,  and  to  attend  to  the  public  affairs 
of  their  own  country. 

What  are  the  cabinet  officers  ? 

Secretary  of  state,  secretary  of  treasury, 
secretary  of  interior,  secretary  of  navy,  secre- 
tary of  war,  attorney-general,  and  postmaster- 
general. 

By  whom  are  they  appointed  ? 
By  the  president,  with  the  consent  of  the 
senate. 

What  is  the  salary  of  each  ? 

Eight  thousand  dollars  per  year. 


92         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  secretary  of 
state  ? 

To  attend  to  the  domestic  and  foreign 
affairs  of  the  country ;  to  correspond  with  the 
ministers  to  other  countries  upon  questions 
concerning  our  national  welfare ;  and  to  re- 
port the  condition  of  affairs  to  the  president 
once  in  a  year,  or  as  often  as  the  president 
desires. 

What  assistance  is  he  allowed  ? 

An  assistant  and  twenty-five  clerks. 

What  are  their  salaries  ? 

They  range  from  twelve  hundred  to  three 
thousand  dollars  per  year. 

What  other  officers  under  the  department  of  state  ? 

There  is  a  minister  to  each  foreign  country, 
and  from  one  to  eight  consuls  to  each 
-country. 

What  are  the  duties  of  foreign  ministers  ? 

To  represent  the  government  in  another 
country,  and  act  as  its  agent  in  international 
affairs. 

Into  what  classes  are  they  divided  1 
Embassadors   or  ministers  plenipotentiary 


EXECUTIVE.  93 

are  the  first  class,  envoys  or  resident  ministers 
the  second,  and  charge  d'affaires  are  the  third 
in  importance. 

What  several  duties  attach  themselves  to  the  three 
classes. 

The  first  class  are  clothed  with  full  power 
to  perform  such  business  as  concluding  peace 
or  making  treaties,  and  are  sent  only  upon 
extra  occasions,  and  return  immediately  upon 
the  transaction  of  their  business  ;  the  second 
class  have  more  limited  powers,  and  reside 
in  the  country  to  which  they  are  ministers ; 
the  third  class  are  ministers  to  some  inferior 
court,  or  are  left  in  charge  during  the  absence 
of  one  of  the  other  classes  of  ministers,  and 
have  moderate  powers. 

What  are  the  duties  of  foreign  ministers  1 

They  represent  a  government,  and  act  as 
its  asrent  in  international  affairs. 

o 

What  are  their  salaries? 

They  vary  from  seven  thousand  five  hun- 
dred, to  seventeen  thousand  five  hundred 
dollars  per  year. 

Have  they  any  assistance  1 


94         THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

They  have  each  one  or  two  assistants  called 
"  secretary  of  legation." 

What  are  their  salaries  'I 

From  fifteen  hundred  to  two  thousand  six 
hundred  dollars  per  year. 

What  is  a  consul  ? 

He  is  a  person  commissioned  to  reside  in  a 
foreign  country,  to  look  after  the  interests, 
commerce,  and  shipping  of  persons  in  the 
country  he  represents. 

What  are  their  salaries  ? 

A  few  are  paid  by  fees,  the  others  have 
salaries  from  one  thousand  to  six  thousand 
dollars  per  year. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  the  secretary  of 
treasury  ? 

To  keep  an  accurate  account  of  all  moneys 
of  the  U.  S.  and  report  the  condition  of  the 
treasury  to  congress  once  in  a  year,  and  to 
pay  out  money  upon  the  warrant  of  the  chief 
officers  in  the  several  departments. 

What  assistance  is  he  allowed  ? 

He  has  four  hundred  clerks,  who  have  sala- 


EXECUTIVE.  95 

ries  varying  from  twelve  hundred  to  three 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  year. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  secretary  of  the  interior? 

He  has  care  of  the  general  land  office,  and 
directs  surveys ;  he  has  direction  of  affairs  in 
the  patent  office ;  he  oversees  the  affairs  in 
the  Indian  office,  and  pension  office  ;  has  care 
of  the  public  buildings  ;  directs  labor  to  be 
laid  out  on  the  public  grounds,  and  has  care 
of  the  hospital  for  the  insane. 

What  assistance  is  he  allowed  1 

He  has  from  fifty  to  two  hundred  clerks  in 
each  of  the  five-mentioned  departments,  with 
salaries  varying  from  six  hundred  to  three 
thousand  dollars  per  year. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  secretary  of  war] 

To  keep  an  account  of  the  proceedings  and 
expenses,  and  to  direct  in  the  various  divisions 
of  the  war  department. 

From  whom  does  he  derive  his  information  in  re- 
gard to  expenses  incurred  ? 

The  officers  of  the  army,  keepers  of  armories, 
and  the  necessary  clerks. 

What  pay  do  the  clerks  draw  \ 


96         THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

From  eight  hundred  to  two  thousand  two 
hundred  dollars  per  year. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  secretary  of  navy  ? 

To  keep  an  account  of  the  changes  made 
in  the  divisions  of  the  navy  department ;  to 
direct  repairs  ;  direct  in  the  U.  S.  coast  sur- 
vey, in  the  national  observatory,  in  the  nauti- 
cal almanac  office,  and  in  the  naval  academy, 
and  report  the  entire  condition  of  the  navy 
when  required. 

What  is  the  duty  of  the  attorney-general  ? 
To  act  as  the  prosecuting  officer  of  govern- 
ment, as  an  attorney  does  for  his  employer. 

What  assistance  is  he  allowed  ? 

One  assistant,  three  clerks,  and  a  messenger. 

What  is  their  compensation  ? 
From  nine  hundred  to  three  thousand  dol- 
lars. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  postmaster-general? 

He  has  the  management  of  the  post-office 
department,  and  appoints  postmasters  where 
the  salary  does  not  exceed  two  thousand  dol- 
lars per  year.  For  convenience-  he  has  first, 
second,  and  third  assistants,  and  a  chief  clerk. 


EXECUTIVE.  97* 

How  is  the  business  of  the  department  divided  be- 
tween the  assistants  ? 

The  first  assistant  has  nineteen  clerks,  and 
he  establishes  or  discontinues  post-offices 
and  postmasters  ;  gives  instruction  to  post- 
masters ;  has  direction  of  the  international 
postal  arrangements,  and  in  general  of  the 
appointing  power.  The  second  assistant  has 
twenty-six  clerks  ;  he  arranges  the  mail  ser- 
vice, and  places  the  same  under  contract  ; 
directs  frequency  of  trips,  and  mode  of  con- 
veyance, course  of  routes,  points  of  distribu- 
tion ;  advertises  for  mail  proposals  ;  receives 
bids,  and  makes  the  contracts.  The  third 
assistant  has  twenty-eight  clerks  ;  has  charge 
of  the  finances  ;  examines  the  quarterly  re- 
turns of  postmasters  ;  issues  stamps  ;  and  has 
the  care  of  the  dead  letter  office.  The  chief 
clerk  has  nineteen  clerks  ;  he  notes  the  failure 
of  mail  contractors,  and  prepares  cases  for  the 
action  of  the  postmaster-general;  provides 
mail  bags,  docks,  keys,  &c. 

Who  appoints  postmasters  where  the  salary  exceeds 
two  thousand  dollars  per  year  ? 

The  president,  by  the  consent  of  the  senate. 
5 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


When,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it 
becomes  necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve 
the  political  bands  which  have  connected 
them  with  another,  and  to  assume  amon^  the 
powers  of  the  earth  the  separate  and  equal 
station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of 
nature's  God  entitled  them,  a  decent  respect 
to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that 
they  should  declare  the  causes  which  impel 
them  to  the  separation  : 

We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident : 
that  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are 
endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  un- 
alienable rights ;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  ;  that  to 
secure  these  rights,  governments  are  insti- 
tuted among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed ;  that  when- 
ever any  form  of  government  becomes  de- 
structive to  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the 
people  to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  insti- 

(98) 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.    99 

tute  new  government,  laying  its  foundation  on 
such  principles,  and  organizing  its  power  in 
such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely 
to  effect  their  safety  and  happiness.  Pru- 
dence, indeed,  will  dictate  that  governments 
long  established  should  not  be  changed  for 
light  and  transient  causes ;  and  accordingly 
all  experience  hath  shown,  that  mankind  are 
more  disposed  to  suffer  while  evils  are  suf- 
ferable,  than  to  right  themselves  by  abolish- 
ing the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed. 
But  when  a  long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpa- 
tions, pursuing  invariably  the  same  object, 
evinces  a  design  to  reduce  them  under  abso- 
lute despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is  their 
duty,  to  throw  off  such  government,  and  to 
provide  new  guards  for  their  future  security. 
Such  has  been  the  patient  sufferance  of  these 
colonies,  and  such  is  now  the  necessity  which 
constrains  them  to  alter  their  former  systems 
of  government.  The  history  of  the  present 
king  of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of  repeated 
injuries  and  usurpations :  all  having  in  direct 
object  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  tyr- 
anny over  these  states.  To  prove  this,  let 
facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world 


100       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN7S   CATECHISM. 

He  .has  refused  his  assent  to  laws,  the  most 
wholesome  and  necessary  for  the  public  good. 

He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass 
laws  of  immediate  and  pressing  importance, 
unless  suspended  in  their  operation  till  his 
assent  should  be  obtained  ;  and  when  so  sus- 
pended, he  has  utterly  neglected  to  attend  to 
them. 

He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the 
accommodation  of  large  districts  of  people,  un- 
less those  people  would  relinquish  the  right 
of  representation  in  the  Legislature,  a  right 
inestimable  to  them,  and  formidable  to  ty- 
rants only. 

He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies 
at  places  unusual,  uncomfortable,  and  distant 
from  the  depository  of  their  public  records, 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  fatiguing  them  into 
compliance  with  his  measures. 

He  has  dissolved  representative  houses 
repeatedly,  for  opposing,  with  manly  firm- 
ness, his  invasions  on  the  rights  of  the  people. 

He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time  after  such 
dissolutions,  to  cause  others  to  be  elected  : 
whereby  the  legislative  powers,  incapable  of 
annihilation,  have  returned  to  the  people  at 


DECLARATION   OF    INDEPENDENCE.       101 

large  for  their  exercise ;  the  state  remaining 
in  the  meantime  exposed  to  all  the  danger  of 
invasion  from  without,  and  convulsions  within. 

He  has  endeavored  to  prevent  the  popu- 
lation of  these  states ;  for  that  purpose  ob- 
structing the  laws  of  naturalization  of  for- 
eigners ;  refusing  to  pass  others  to  encourage 
their  migration  hither ;  and  raising  the  con- 
ditions of  new  appropriations  of  lands. 

He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of 
justice,  by  refusing  his  assent  to  laws  for 
establishing  judiciary  powers. 

He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his 
will  alone  for  the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and 
the  amount  and  payment  of  their  salaries. 

He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices, 
and  sent  hither  swarms  of  officers  to  harass 
our  people,  and  eat  out  their  substance. 

He  has  kept  among  us,  in  times  of  peace, 
standing  armies  without  the  consent  of  our 
Legislatures. 

He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  inde- 
pendent of,  and  superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

He  has  combined  with  others  to  subject 
us  to  a  jurisdiction  foreign  to  our  constitu- 
tion, and  unacknowledged  by  our  laws ;  giv- 


102       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

ing  his  assent  to  their  acts  of  pretended  leg- 
islation : 

For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed 
troops  among  us : 

For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial, 
from  punishment  for  any  murders  which  they 
should  commit  on  the  inhabitants  of  these 
states : 

For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts 
of  the  world : 

For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our 
consent : 

For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the 
benefits  of  trial  by  jury  : 

For  transporting  us  beyond  seas  to  be 
tried  for  pretended  offences : 

For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English 
laws  in  a  neighboring  province,  establishing 
therein  an  arbitrary  government,  and  enlarg- 
ing its  boundaries,  so  as  to  render  it  at  once 
an  example  and  fit  instrument  for  introducing 
the  same  absolute  rule  into  these  colonies : 

For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing 
our  most  valuable  laws,  and  altering  funda- 
mentally the  forms  of  our  governments : 

For  suspending  our  own  Legislatures,  and 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.   103 

declaring  themselves  invested  with  power  to 
legislate  for  us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 

He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by- 
declaring  us  out  of  his  protection,  and  wag- 
ing war  against  us. 

He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our 
coasts,  burnt  our  towns,  and  destroyed  the 
lives  of  our  people. 

He  is,  at  this  time,  transporting  large 
armies  of  foreign  mercenaries,  to  complete 
the  work  of  death,  desolation,  and  tyranny, 
already  begun  with  circumstances  of  cruelty 
and  perfidy  scarcely  paralleled  in  the  most 
barbarous  ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the 
head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens, 
taken  captive  on  the  high  seas,  to  bear  arms 
against  their  country ;  to  become  the  execu- 
tioners of  their  friends  and  brethren,  or  to 
fall  themselves  by  their  hands. 

He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections 
amongst  us,  and  has  endeavored  to  bring  on 
the  inhabitants  of  our  frontiers  the  merciless 
Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of  war- 
fare is  an  undistinguished  destruction  of  all 
ages,  sexes,  and  conditions. 


104       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions,  we 
have  petitioned  for  redress  in  the  most  hum- 
ble terms :,  our  repeated  petitions  have  been 
answered  only  by  repeated  injury.  A  prince, 
whose  character  is  thus  marked  by  every  act 
which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is  unfit  to  be  the 
ruler  of  a  free  people. 

Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  attention 
to  our  British  brethren.  We  have  warned 
them  from  time  to  time  of  attempts  made 
by  their  Legislature  to  extend  an  unwarrant- 
able jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have  reminded 
them  of  the  circumstances  of  our  emigration 
and  settlement  here.  We  have  appealed  to 
their  native  justice  and  magnanimity  ;  and 
we  have  conjured  them,  by  the  ties  of  our 
common  kindred,  to  disavow  these  usurpa- 
tions, which  would  inevitably  interrupt  our 
connexions  and  correspondence.'  They  too 
have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  of 
consanguinity.  We  must,  therefore,  acquiesce 
in  the  necessity,  Avhich  denounces  our  separa- 
tion, and  hold  them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of 
mankind,  enemies  in  war,  in  peace,  friends. 

We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  in  general  Con- 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.   105 

gress  assembled,  appealing  to  the  Supreme 
Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of  our 
intentions,  do,  in  the  name  and  by  authority 
of  the  good  people  of  these  colonies,  solemnly 
publish  and  declare,  that  these  united  colo- 
nies are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  FREE 
and  INDEPENDENT  STATES  :  that  they 
are  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  Brit- 
ish  crown  ;  and  that  all  political  connexion 
between  them  and  the  state  of  Great  Britain 
is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved  ;  and 
that,  as  free  and  independent  states,  they 
have  full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace, 
contract  alliances,  establish  commerce,  and 
to  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which  inde- 
pendent states  may  of  right  do.  And,  for 
the  support  of  this  declaration,  with  a  firm 
reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence, we  mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our 
lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  sacred  honor. 

JOHN  HANCOCK,  President, 
New  Hampshire,  Josiah  Bartlett, 

William  Whipple, 

Matthew  Thornton. 
Massachusetts  Bay,  Samuel  Adams, 

John  Adams. 
Massachusetts,  Robert  Treat  Paine, 

Elbridge  Gerry. 


10G       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 


Rhode  Island,  &c, 
Connecticut  j 

New  York, 

New  Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, 


Delaware, 


Maryland, 


Virginia, 


Stephen  Hopkins, 

William  Ellery. 

Roger  Sherman, 

Samuel  Huntington, 

William  Williams, 

Oliver  Wolcott. 

William  Floyd, 

Philip  Livingston, 

Francis  Lewis, 

Lewis  Morris. 

Eichard  Stockton, 

John  Witherspoon, 

Francis  Hopkinson, 

John  Hart, 

Abraham  Clark. 

Robert  Morris, 

Benjamin  Rush, 

Benjamin'  Franklin, 

John  Morton, 

George  Clymer, 

James  Smith, 

George  Taylor, 

James  Wilson, 

George  Ross. 

Cesar  Rodney 

Thomas  M'Kjean, 

George  Read. 

Samuel  Chase, 

William  Paca, 

Thomas  Stone, 

Charles  Carroll  of  Carroll  ton. 

George  Wythe, 

RicnARD  Henry  Lee, 

Thomas  Jefferson, 

Benjamin  Harrison, 


DECLARATION   OF   INDEPENDENCE.        107 


North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina, 

Georgia, 


Thomas  Nelson,  junr., 
Francis  Lightfoot  Lee, 
Carter  Braxton. 
William  Hooper, 
Joseph  Hewes, 
John  Pens'. 
Edward  Rutledge, 
Thomas  Heyward,  junr., 
Thomas  Lynch,  junr., 
Arthur  Middleton. 
Button  Gwinnett, 
Lyman  Hall, 
George  Walton. 


Heke  we  append,  for  convenience  of  ref- 
erence, and  as  being  what  every  American 
should  know  and  understand,  a  copy  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
Amendments  thereto. 


CONSTITUTION. 

preamble.  \\rE)  the  People  of  the  United  States, 
in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect 
Union,  establish  justice,  insure  do- 
mestic tranquillity,  provide  for  the 
common  defence,  promote  the  gen- 
eral welfare,  and  secure  the  bless- 
ings of  liberty  to  ourselves  and 
our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  es- 
tablish this  Constitution  for  the 
United  States  of  America. 

ARTICLE    I. 

SECTION   I. 

congress.'  All  legislative  powers  herein  grant- 
ed shall  be  vested  in  a  Congress  of 
the  United  States,  which  shall  con- 

(108) 


chosen. 


CONSTITUTION.  109 

sist  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. 

SECTION'  II. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  KXT ' 
be  composed  of  members  chosen  every 
second  year  by  the  people  of  the  sev- 
eral States,  and  the  electors  in  each 
State  shall  have  the  qualifications  re- 
quisite for  electors  of  the  most  nu- 
merous branch  of  the  State  legisla- 
ture. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Representa-  Qualification 

-•-  A  of  Represcn- 

tive  who  shall  not  have  attained  the tatives- 
age  of  twenty-five  years,  and  have 
been  seven  years  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  and  who  shall  not, 
when  elected,  be  an  inhabitant  of 
that  State  in  which  he  shall  be 
chosen. 

Representatives  and  direct  taxes  ^SmeW 
shall  be  apportioned  among  the  sev-  Eff^SS*  . 
eral  States  which  may  be  included 
within  this  Union,  according  to  their 
respective  numbers,  which  shall  be 
determined  by  adding  to  the  whole 
number   of  free   persons,   including 


110      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISxM. 

those  bound  to  service  for  a  term 
of  years,  and  excluding  Indians  not 
taxed,  three-fifths  of  all  other  per- 
sons. Tlie  actual  enumeration  shall 
be  made  within  three  years  after  the 
first  meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  and  within  every  sub- 
ccnsus  every  sequent  term  of  ten  years,  in  such 

ten  years.  -»-  •/ 

manner  as  they  shall  by  law  direct. 
The  number  of  Representatives  shall 
not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  thou- 
sand, but  each  State  shall  have  at 
least  one  representative;  and  until 
such  enumeration  shall  be  made,  the 
State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be 
entitled  to  choose  three,  Massachu- 
setts eight,  Rhode  Island  and  Provi- 
dence Plantations  one,  Connecticut 
five,  New  York  six,  New  Jersey  four, 
Pennsylvania  eight,  Delaware  one, 
Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten,  North 
Carolina  five,  South  Carolina  five, 
and  Georgia  three. 
hwEXed'  When  vacancies  happen  in  the  re- 
presentation from  any  State,  the  ex- 
ecutive authority  thereof  shall  issue 


CONSTITUTION.  Ill 

writs  of  election  to  fill  such  vacan- 
cies. 

The  House  of  Representatives  shall  £5?3E£ 
choose  their  Speaker  and  other  offi- bringtaqfth- 
cers  ;  and  shall  have  the  sole  power 
of  impeachment. 

SECTION   III. 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  Se^.how 
shall  be  composed  of  two  Senators 
from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  legis- 
lature thereof,  for   six   years ;    and 
each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote. 

Immediately  after   they  shall  bes?nator8 

•/  *>  classed. 

assembled  in  consequence  of  the  first 
election,  they  shall  be  divided  as 
equally  as  may  be  into  three  classes. 
The  seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first 
class  shall  be  vacated  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  second  year ;  of  the  sec- 
ond class,  at  the  expiration  of  the 
fourth  year ;  and  of  the  third  class, 
at  the  expiration  of  the  sixth  year ; 
so  that  one-third  may  be  chosen 
every  second  year:  and,  if  vacancies SHuSt 
happen  by  resignation  or  otherwise 
during  the  recess  of  the  legislature 


112      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN^    CATECHISM. 


Qualifications 
of  Senators. 


Vice  Presi- 
dent to  pre- 
side. 


Officers  of 

Seuate. 


Trial  of  im- 
peachments. 


of  any  State,  the  executive  thereof 
may  make  temporary  appointments 
until  the  next  meeting  of  the  legis- 
lature, which  shall  then  fill  such  va- 
cancies. 

No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  who 
shall  not  have  attained  to  the  age  of 
thirty  years,  and  "been  nine  years  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who 
shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  inhab- 
itant of  that  State  for  which  he  shall 
be  chosen. 

The  Vice  President  of  the  United 
States  shall  be  President  of  the  Sen- 
ate, but  shall  have  no  vote  unless 
they  be  equally  divided. 

The  Senate  shall  choose  their  oth- 
er officers,  and  also  a  President  pro 
tempore  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice 
President,  or  when  he  shall  exercise 
the  office  of  President  of  the  United 
States. 

The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole 
power  to  try  all  impeachments. 
"When  sitting  for  that  purpose,  they 
shall    be   on    oath    or    affirmation. 


CONSTITUTION.  113 

When  the  President  of  the  United 
States  is  tried,  the  Chief  Justice 
shall  preside:  and  no  person  si i all 
be  convicted  without  the  concur- 
rence of  two-thirds  of  the  members 
present. 

Judgment  in  cases  of  impeach-  £Jg££j!i 
ment  shall  not  extend  further  than 
to  removal  from  office,  and  disqualifi- 
cation to  hold  and  enjoy  any  office 
of  honor,  trust,  or  profit  under  the 
United  States;  but  the  party  eon-1*** 
victed  shall  nevertheless  be  liable 
and  subject  to  indictment,  trial,  judg- 
ment, and  punishment,  according  to 
law. 

SECTION   IV. 

The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  Elections 

7   J-  '  when  and  how 

holding  elections  for  Senators  andheld* 
Representatives  shall  be  prescribed 
in  each  State  by  the  legislature  there- 
of; but  the  Congress  may  at  any 
time,  by  law,  make  or  alter  such 
regulations,  except  as  to  the  places 
of  choosing  Senators. 

The  Congress   shall   assemble   at  congress  as- 


114       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

sombie  annu-  Jeast  once  in  every  year,  and  such 
meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday 
in  December,  unless  they  shall  by 
law  appoint  a  different  day. 

SECTION   Y. 

howScd.       Eacn  house  shall  be  the  judge  of 
the  elections,  returns,  and  qualifica- 
»       tions   of  its   own   members,  and    a 
Quorum.       majority  of  each  shall  constitute  a 
quorum  to  do  business ;  but  a  small- 
er number  may  adjourn  from  day  to 
day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  corn- 
er1 k^"  Pel  the  attendance  of  absent  mem- 
bers, in  such  manner,  and  under  such 
penalties,  as  each  house  may  provide. 
Rules.  Each    house   may   determine   the 

rules  of  its  proceedings,  punish  its 
members  for  disorderly  behavior, 
Expulsion.  and,  with  the  concurrence  of  two- 
thirds,  expel  a  member. 
StTndpub^  Each  house  shall  keep  a.  journal 
of  its  proceedings,  and  from  time  to 
time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such 
parts  as  may  in  their  judgment  re* 

Yeas  and  •  -i    .i  t 

nays.  quire  secrecy ;  and  the  yeas  and  nays 


CONSTITUTION.  115 

of  the  members  of  either  house  on 
any  question  shall,  at  the  desire  of 
one-fifth  of  those  present,  be  entered 
on  the  journal. 

Neither  house,  during  the  session  Adjourn- 

°  mcnts. 

of  Congress,  shall,  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more 
than  three  days,  nor  to  any  other 
place  than  that  in  which  the  two 
houses  shall  be  sitting. 

SECTION   VI. 

The  Senators  and  Representatives 
shall  receive  a  compensation  for  their  compensa- 

*■  tion. 

services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law, 
and  paid  out  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States.  They  shall  in  all 
cases,  except  treason,  felony,  and  privilege, 
breach  of  the  peace,  be  privileged 
from  arrest  during  their  attendance 
at  the  session  of  their  respective 
houses,  and  in  going  to  and  return- 
ing from  the  same ;  and  for  any 
speech  or  debate  in  either  house, 
they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any 
other  place. 


116      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 


office. 


SScar  No  Senator  or  Representative  shall, 
during  the  time  for  which  he  was 
elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil 
office  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  which  shall  have  been 
created,  or  the  .emoluments  whereof 
shall   have   been    increased,    during 


Officers  of 


KTSabT  such  time;  and  no  person  holding 
any  office  under  the  United  States, 
shall  be  a  member  of  either  house 
during  his  continuance  in  office. 


SECTION   VII. 


Revenue  bins.  All  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall 
originate  in  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives ;  but  the  Senate  may  propose 
or  concur  with  amendments  as  on 
other  bills. 

Resented0 to       Every  bill  which  shall  have  passed 
fhree perneseide°nt.  the  Hoage  of   Representatives  and 

the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a 

law,  be  presented  to  the  President  of 

His  powers    the  United  States  ;  if  he  approve,  he 

over  them.  '  -1  -«•  1    . 

shall  sign  it ;  but  if  not,  he  shall  re- 
turn it,  with  his  objections,  to  that 
house  in  which  it  shall  have  origi- 


CONSTITUTION.  117 

nated,  who  shall  enter  the  objections 
at  large  on  their  journal,  and  pro- 
ceed to  reconsider  it.     If  after  such 

Proceedings 

reconsideration  two-thirds  of  that  °» llis  v,!to- 
house  shall  agree  to  pass  the  bill, 
it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the 
objections,  to  the  other  house,  by 
which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsid- 
ered ;  and  if  approved  by  two-thirds 
of  that  house,  it  shall  become  a  law. 
But  in  all  such  cases  the  votes  of 
both  houses  shall  be  determined  by 
yeas  and  nays,  and  the  names  of  the 
persons  voting  for  and  against  the 
bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  journal 
of  each  house  respectively.     If  any  bus  to  be 

r  J  J   laws  if  not  re- 

bill   shall  not   be   returned    by  the™dinten 

President  within  ten  days  (Sundays 

excepted)   after  it  shall  have  been 

presented  to  him,  the  same  shall  be 

a  law,  in  like  manner  as  if  he  had 

signed  it,   unless   the  Congress   by 

their  adjournment  prevent  its  return, 

in  which  case  it  shall  not  be  a  law. 

Every  order,  resolution,  or  vote,  to  oTresoSns 

which  the  concurrence  of  the  Sen-  o*  by  the 

President. 


118       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 


Powers  ot 
Congress  to 
lay  taxes — 
pay  debts. 


General  wel- 
fare. 


Duties  uni- 
form. 


Borrow 
money. 


Commerce. 


ate  and  House  of  Representatives 
may  be  necessary,  (except  on  a  ques- 
tion of  adjournment,)  shall  be  pre- 
sented to  the  President  of  the  United 
States;  and  before  the  same  shall 
take  effect,  shall  be  approved  by 
him,  or,  being  disapproved  by  him, 
shall  be  repassed  by  two-thirds  of 
the  Senate  and  House  of  Represen- 
tatives, according  to  the  rules  and 
limitations  prescribed  in  the  case  of 
a  bill. 


SECTION    VIII. 


The  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts, 
and  excises;  to  pay  the  debts,  and 
provide  for  the  common  defence  and 
general  welfare  of  the  United  States : 
but  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises, 
shall  be  uniform  throughout  the 
United  States; 

To  borrow  money  on  the  credit  of 
the  United  States ; 

To  regulate  commerce  with  for- 
eign nations,  and  among  the  several 
States,  and  with  the  Indian  tribes  ; 


Weights  and 
measures. 


CONSTITUTION.  119 

To  establish  a  uniform  rule  of  uat-  Sra,iza" 
uralization,  and  uniform  laws  on  the 
subject  of  bankruptcies,  throughout  Bankruptcy. 
the  United  States ; 

To  coin  money,  regulate  the  value  ^^  raon°y- 
thereof,  and  of  foreign  coin,  and  fix 
the  standard  of  weights  and  meas- 
ures ; 

To  provide  for  the  punishment  of  ^icvMt- 
counterfeiting:  the  securities  and  cur- 
rent  coin  of  the  United  States  ; 

To  establish  post-offices  and  post Post  roads- 
roads ; 

To  promote  the  progress  of  science  £3™£n£* 
and  useful  arts,  by  securing,  for  lim- 
ited times,  to  authors  and  inventors 
the  exclusive  right  to  their  respective 
writings  and  discoveries ; 

To  constitute  tribunals  inferior  to  inferior 

courts. 

the  Supreme  Court ; 

To  define  and  punish  piracies  andPiracies>  &c- 
felonies  committed  on  the  high  seas, 
and  offences  against  the  law  of  na- 
tions ; 

To  declare  war,  grant  letters  of  22SKS^ 
marque  and  reprisal,  and  make  rules tures* 


120       THE    YOUNG    CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

concerning   captures    on    land    and 
water ; 

Raise  armies.         ^Q  ra|ge  aR(J   SUppQ1^    armies  '.    but 

no  appropriation  of  money  to  that 
use  shall  be  for  a  longer  term  than 
two  years ; 
Navy.  rp0  provic]e  anci  maintain  a  navy ; 

Rules  and  ar-  To  make  rules  for  the  government 
and  regulation  of  the  land  and  naval 
forces ; 


tides  of  war. 


Call  out  mili- 
tia. 


To  provide  for  calling   forth  the 

militia    to  execute  the  laws  of  the 

Union,    suppress   insurrections,    and 

repel  invasions ; 

organize  and      To   provide   for    organizing,   arm- 

govern  mili- 


tia. 


ing,  and  disciplining  the  militia,  and 
for  governing  such  part  of  them  as 
may  be  employed  in  the  service  of 
the   United  States,  reserving  to  the 
States,  respectively,  the  appointment 
miSS0      of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of 
training  the  militia  according  to  the 
discipline  prescribed  by  Congress ; 
fSSon         To  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in 
govermnelit.  all  cases  whatsoever,  over  such  dis- 
trict (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square) 


CONSTITUTION.  121 

as  may  by  cession  of  particular  States, 
and  the  acceptance  of  Congress,  be- 
come the  seat  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  and  to  exercise 
like  authority  over  all  places  pur- 
chased by  the  consent  of  the  legisla- 
ture of  the  State  in  which  the  same 
shall   be,  for   the  erection    of  forts, 

,         ,       -,  -.  -,  And  over 

magazines,  arsenals,  dock-yards,  and  forts,arse»ato, 

°  '  \  J  1  docky'ds,&c. 

other  needful  buildings  ;  and 

To  make  all  laws  which  shall  be  JSnSwS**' 
necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  tatoJaSS?" 
into  execution  the  foregoing  powers, 
and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this 
Constitution  in  the  Government  of 
the  United  Spates,  or  in  any  depart- 
ment or  officer  thereof. 

SECTION  rx. 

The  migration  or  importation  ofSK^JS 
such  persons  as  any  of  the  States  isos.1 
now  existing  shall  think  proper  to 
admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the 
Congress  prior  to  the  year  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred  and  eight;  but 
a  tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed  on 
6 


laws 

Direct  taxes 


122       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

such  importation,  not  exceeding  ten 
dollars  for  each  person. 

Habeas  cor-  rpj^     p^gge    Qf    ^    ^     Qf    J^ 

beas  corpus  shall  not  be  suspended, 
unless  when,  in  cases  of  rebellion  or 
invasion,  the  public  safety  may  re- 
quire it. 

ex%nsdtCfacatod      ^°  ^U  °f  attainder  or  ex  post  facto 
law  shall  be  passed. 

No  capitation  or  other  direct  tax 
shall  be  laid  unless  in  proportion  to 
the  census  or  enumeration  herein  be- 
fore directed  to  be  taken. 

2*385**"     ^°  tax  or  ^uty  sna^  ^e  '****  on 

articles  exported  from  any  State. 
bcu^eTiThe       No  preference  shall  be  given  by  any 

States.  *\  »    &  J  J 

regulation  of  commerce  or  revenue 
to  the  ports  of  one  State  over  those 
of  another;  nor  shall  vessels  bound 
to  or  from  one  State  be  obliged  to 
enter,  clear,  or  pay  duties  in  another. 
SntwTfr'om  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from 
the  treasury  but  in  consequence  of 
appropriations  made  by  law ;  and  a 
regular  statement  and  account  of  the 
receipts  and  expenditures  of  all  pub- 


the  treasury. 


CONSTITUTION.  123 

lie  money  shall  be   published  from^bopubli*h' 
time  to  time. 

No  title  of  nobility  shall  be  granted  *°  **wr. 
by  the  United  States :  and  no  person 
holding  any  office  of  profit  or  trust 
under  them,  shall,  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  Congress,  accept  of  anyFom^pres- 
present,  emolument,  office,  or  title,  of tle8' 
any  kind  whatever,  from  any  king, 
prince,  or  foreign  state. 

SECTION   X. 


No   State    shall    enter    into   any  powers  dc- 

,       *   nied  to  the 

treaty,  alliance,  or  confederation ; states- 
grant  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal ; 
coin  money;  emit  bills  of  credit; 
make  any  thing  but  gold  and  silver 
coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts; 
pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post 
facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obli- 
gation of  contracts,  or  grant  any  title  ^V toWCrs 
of  nobility.  statc-s- 

No  State  shall,  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  Congress,  lay  any  imposts 
or  duties  on  imports  or  exports,  ex- 
cept what  may  be  absolutely  neces- 


124       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

saryfor  executing  its  inspection  laws; 
and  the  net  produce  of  all  duties  and 
imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on  imports 
or  exports,  shall  be  for  the  use  of  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States ;  and  all 
such  laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  re- 

niariloTpowers  vision  and  control  of  the  Congress. 

tost**  No  State  shall,  without  the  con- 

sent of  the  Congress,  lay  any  duty  of 
tonnage,  keep  troops  or  ships  of  war 
in  time  of  peace,  enter  into  any  agree- 
ment or  compact  with  another  State, 
or  with  a  foreign  power,  or  engage 
in  war,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in 
such  imminent  danger  as  will  not 
admit  of  delay. 

ARTICLE   II. 

SECTION   I. 

SSffid*  The  Executive  power  shall  be 
statcs'  vested  in  a  President  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  He  shall  hold 
his  office  during  the  term  of  four 
years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice- 
President,  chosen  for  the  same  term, 
be  elected  as  follows : 
aiepCoiOnrte'dh0W      Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such 


CONSTITUTION.  125 

manner  as  the  Legislature  thereof  may 
direct,  a  number  of  electors,  equal  to 
the  whole  number  of  Senators  and 
Representatives  to  which  the  State 
may  be  entitled  in  the  Congress; 
but  no  Senator  or  Representative,  or 
person  holding  an  office  of  trust  or 
profit  under  the  United  States,  shall 
be  appointed  an  elector. 

The  electors   shall   meet  in  their  Electors  to 

meet  and  to 

respective  States,  and  vote  by  ballot  SSaVd'vfce. 

n       ,  n       l  .   i  j  President. 

tor  two  persons,  ot  whom  one  at  least 
shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same 
State  with   themselves.      And  they 
shall  make  a  list  of  all  the  persons 
voted  for,  and  of  the  number  of  votes 
for  each,  which  list  they  shall  sign 
and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to 
the  seat  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  directed  to  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate.     The  President 
of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  presence  ™^d°-„s 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre-^083'11 
sentatives,  open  all  the  certificates, 
and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted. 
The  person  having  the  greatest  num- 


126      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

ber  of  votes  shall  be  the  President, 
if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the- 
whole  number  of  electors  appointed  ; 
and  if  there  be  more  than  one  who 
have  such  majority,  and  have  an 
Represent-    equal   number    of    votes,    then   the 

tives  to  M.  " 

torTfaii.felcc'  House  of  Representatives  shall  im- 
mediately choose,  by  ballot,  one  of 
them  for  President ;  and  if  no  person 
have  a  majority,  then  from  the  five 
highest  on  the  list  the  said  House 
shall  in  like  manner  choose  the  Pres- 

st?tes.by  ident.  But  in  choosing  the  President 
the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  States, 
the  representation  from  each  State 
having  one  vote  ;  a  quorum  for  this 
purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member 
or  members  from 'two-thirds  of  the 
States,  and  a  majority  of  all  the 
States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 

vice-presi-    In  every  case,  after  the  choice  of  a 

dent.  •  j  ■ 

President,  the  person  having  the 
greatest  number  of  votes  of  the  elec- 
tors shall  be  the  Vice-President.  But 
if  there  should  remain  two  or  more 
who   have   equal  votes,  the   Senate 


CONSTITUTION.  127 

shall  choose  from  them  by  ballot  the 
Vice-President.'"" 

The  Congress  may  determine  thcXSStf1 
time  of  choosing  the  electors,  and  the 
day  on  which  they  shall  give  their 
votes;  which  day  shall  be  the  same 
throughout  the  United  States. 

No  person  except  a  natural-born  Qualification 

1  r  of  President. 

citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 
this  Constitution,  shall  be  eligible  to 
the  office  of  President ;  neither  shall 
any  person  be  eligible  to  that  office 
who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 
age  of  thirty-five  years,  and  been 
fourteen  years  a  resident  within  the 
United  States. 

In  case  of  the  removal  of  the  Pres-  Removal, 

death,  &c,  of 

ident  from  office,  or  of  his  death, President- 
resignation,  or  inability  to  discharge 
the  powers  and  duties  of  the  said 
office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the 
Vice-President,  and  the  Congress 
may  by  law  provide  for  the  case  of 

*  This  clause  of  the  Constitution  has  been  amended. 
See  twelfth  article  of  the  amendments,  page  143. 


128       THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

removal,  death,  resignation,  or  in- 
ability, both  of  the  President  and 
Vice-President,  declaring  what  officer 
shall  act  as  President,  and  such 
officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the 
disability  be  removed  or  a  President 
shall  be  elected, 
compensation      The  President  shall,  at  stated  times, 

of  President.  a  '  ' 

receive  for  his  services  a  compensa- 
tion which  shall  neither  be  increased 
nor  diminished  during  the  period  for 
which  he  shall  have  been  elected, 
and  he  shall  not  receive  within  that 
period  any  other  emolument  from  the 
United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

Before  he  enter  on  the  execution 
of  his  office,  he  shall  take  the  follow- 
ing oath  or  affirmation : 
oafo.  "  I  do  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm) 

that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the 
office  of  President  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  will,  to  the  best  of  my 
ability,  preserve,  protect,  and  de- 
fend the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States." 


CONSTITUTION.  129 

SECTION   II. 

The  President  shall  be  commander-  SSEVSi 
in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the 1Jrefiidc,,u 
United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of 
the  several  States  when  called  into 
the  actual .  service  of  the  United 
States  ;  he  may  require  the  opinion, 
in  writing,  of  the  principal  officer  in 
each  of  the  executive  departments, 
upon  any  subject  relating  to  the 
duties  of  their  respective  offices  ;  and 
he  shall  have  power  to  grant  re- 
prieves and  pardons  for  offences 
against  the  United  States,  except  in 
cases  of  impeachment. 

He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds 
of  the  Senators  present  concur  ;  and 
he  shall  nominate,  and,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate,  Appointment 

of  public  offl- 

shall    appoint    embassadors,    other cere- 
public  ministers  and  consuls,  judges 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other 
officers  of  the  United  States  whose 
appointments  are  not  herein  other- 


130      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

wise  provided  for,  and  which  shall 
be  established  by  law  ;  but  the  Con- 
gress may  by  law  vest  the  appoint- 
ment of  such  inferior  officers  as  they 
think  proper,  in  the  President  alone, 
in  the  courts  of  law,  or  -in  the  heads 

vacancies  in  of  departments. 
°mcc- 

The  President  shall  have  power  to 

till  up  all  vacancies  that  may  happen 
•    during  the  recess  of  the  Senate,  by 
granting  commissions  which  shall  ex- 
pire at  the  end  of  their  next  session. 

SECTION   III. 

Further  pow-      jje  snaii  from  time  to  time  srive  to 

ers  and  duties  c? 

of  the  prcsi-  ^e  Qongress  information  of  the  state 
of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their 
consideration  such  measures  as  he 
shall  judge  necessary  and  expedient ; 
he  may,  on  extraordinary  occasions, 
convene  both  houses,  or  either  of 
them,  and,  in  case  of  disagreement 
between  them  with  respect  to  the 
time  of  adjournment,  he  may  adjourn 
them  to  such  time  as  he  shall  think 
proper  ;  he  shall  receive  embassadors 
and  other  public  ministers  ;  he  shall 


CONSTITUTION.  131 

take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully 
executed,  and  shall  commission  all 
the  officers  of  the  United  States. 

SECTION  IV. 

The  President,  Vice-President,  and  impeach- 

mcnt. 

all  civil  officers  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  removed  from  office  on  im- 
peachment for  and  conviction  of 
treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crimes 
and  misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE   III. 

SECTION    I. 

The  judicial  power  of  the  United  £££3 and 
States  shall  be  vested  in  one  Supreme judges* 
Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as 
the  Congress  may  from  time  to  time 
ordain  and  establish.  The  judges, 
both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior 
courts,  shall  hold  their  offices  during 
good  behavior,  and  shall,  at  stated 
times,  receive  for  their  services  a 
compensation,  which  shall  not  be 
diminished  during  their  continuance 
in  office. 


132      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 


SECTION    II. 


powers  of  the     The  Judicial  power  shall  extend  to 

judiciary.  v  x 

all  cases,  in  law  and  equity,  arising 
under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of 
the  United  States,  and  treaties  made, 
or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their 
authority  ;  to  all  cases  affecting  em- 
bassadors, other  public  ministers,  and 
consuls  ;  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and 
maritime  jurisdiction  ;  to  controver- 
sies to  which  the  United  States  shall 
be  a  party;  to  controversies  between 
two  or  more  States  ;  between  a.  State 
and  citizens  of  another  State ;  be- 
tween citizens  of  the  same  State 
claiming  lands  under  grants  of  dif- 
erent  States;  and  between  a  State, 
or  the  citizens  thereof,  and  foreign 
jurisdiction  of  States,  citizens,  or  subjects. 

the  Supreme  7  . 

court.  jn  arj  cases  affecting  embassadors, 

other  public  ministers,  and  consuls, 
and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  Lie 
a  party,  the  Supreme  Court  shall 
have  original  jurisdiction.  In  all  the 
other  cases  before  mentioned,  the  Su- 
preme  Court   shall   have    appellate 


CONSTITUTION.  133 

jurisdiction,  both  as  to  law  and  fact, 
with  such  exceptions  and  under  such 
regulations   as    the   Congress    shall 

make.  Trials  by  jury. 

The  trial  of  all  crimes,  except  in  cases 
of  impeachment,  shall  be  by  jury ;  And  who™ 
and  such  trial  shall  be  held  in  the 
State  where  the  said  crimes  shall 
have  been  committed;  but  when 
not  committed  within  any  State,  the 
trial  shall  be  at  such  place  or  places 
as  the  Congress  may  by  law  have 
directed. 

SECTION    III. 

Treason  against  the  United  States  Treason, 
shall  consist  only  in  levying  war 
against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their 
enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  com- 
fort. No  person  shall  be  convicted 
of  treason  unless  on  the  testimony  of 
two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act, 
or  on  confession  in  open  court. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
declare  the  punishment  of  treason ; 
but  no  attainder  of  treason  shall 
work  corruption  of  blood  or  forfeit-  o?biooTption 


134       THE   YOUNG   CITIZENS   CATECHISM. 

ure,  except   during  the   life   of  the 
person  attainted. 

ARTICLE   IV. 

SECTION   I. 

acc%°diters  Ful1  faith  and  credit  shall  be  given 
in  each  State  to  the  public  acts,  rec- 
ords, and  judicial  proceedings  of  every 
other  State.  And  the  Congress  may, 
by  general  laws,  prescribe  the  man- 
ner in  which  such  acts,  records,  and 
proceedings  shall  be  proved,  and  the 
effect  thereof. 

SECTION   II. 

dt!Icnfhfpof      Tne  citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  en- 
titled to  all  the  privileges  and  immuni- 
ties of  citizens  in  the  several  States. 
Fofjtfrw  A  person   charged,  in   any  State 

edup.dclivcr"  wn^n  treason,  felony,  or  other  crime, 
who  shall  flee  from  justice,  and  be 
found  in  another  State,  shall,  on  de- 
mand of  the  Executive  authority  of 
the  State  from  which  he  fled,  be  de- 
livered up,  to  be  removed  to  the 
State  having  jurisdiction  of  the 
crime. 


CONSTITUTION.  135 


No  person  held  to  service  or  labor  SSSJto bo 
in  one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof,  c  up' 
escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  con- 
sequence of  any  law  or  regulation 
therein,  be  discharged  from  such  ser- 
vice or  labor,  but  shall  be  delivered 
up  on  claim  of  the  party  to  whom 
such  service  or  labor  may  be  due. 


SECTION   III. 


New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  New  states. 
Congress  into  this  Union ;  but  no  new 
State  shall  be  formed  or  erected  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State ;  nor 
any  State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of 
two  or  more  States,  or  parts  of  States, 
without  the  consent  of  the  Legisla- 
tures of  the  States  concerned,  as  well 
as  of  the  Congress. 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  Territory  and 

°  A  other  proper- 

dispose  of  and  make  all  needful  rides  gd°gttahteSUni" 
and  regulations  respecting  the  terri- 
tory or  other  property  belonging  to 
the  United  States;  and  nothing  in 
this  Constitution  shall  be  so  con- 
strued as  to  prejudice  any  claims  of 


136      THE    YOUNG    CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

the   United    States,  or  of  any  par- 
ticular State. 

SECTION   IV. 

Sbofgaonv-       ^he  United  States  shall  guarantee 

crnment.  t()  ^^  g^  |R  Qfa  Ullioil  a  re- 
publican form   of  government,   and 

sta°tcsCtion  of  ^na^  protect  eacli  of  them  against 
invasion,  and,  on  application  of  the 
Legislature,  or  of  the  Executive(when 
th«  Legislature  can  not  be  convened), 
against  domestic  violence. 


ARTICLE   V. 
Tli ft  f!rmc 

merits  of  this 


The  Congress,  whenever  two-thirds 


constitution.  ()f  hot]l  jlouses  gj^jj  c[eem  \t  necessary, 
shall  propose  amendments  to  this 
Constitution,  or,  on  the  application 
of  the  Legislatures  of  two-thirds  of 
the  several  States,  shall  call  a  con- 
vention for  proposing  amendments, 
which,  in  either  case,  shall  be  valid 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  as  part 
of  this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by 
the  Legislatures  of  three-fourths  of 
the  several  States,  or  by  conventions  in 
three-fourths  thereof,  as  the  one  or  the 


CONSTITUTION.  137 

other  mode  of  ratification  may  be  pro- 
posed by  the  Congress ;  provided  that 
no  amendment  which  may  be  made 
prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight 
hundred  and  eight,  shall  in  any  man- 
ner affect  the  first  and  fourth  clauses  in 
the  ninth  section  of  the  first  article  ; 
and  that  no  State,  without  its  con- 
sent, shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal 
suffrage  in  the  Senate. 

ARTICLE    VI. 

All  debts  contracted  and  engage-  ^tsgo°^ur: 
ments  entered  into  before  the  adop-  ISa.00 
tion  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as 
valid  against  the  United  States  under 
this  Constitution  as  under  the  con- 
federation. 

This  Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  J2? £"£; 
the  United  States  which  shall  bepromel£ 
made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all 
treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be 
made,  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme 
law  ctf  the  land ;  and  the  judges  in 
every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby, 
any  thing  in  the  Constitution  or  laws 


138       THE    YOUNG    CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

of  any  State  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. 

Sffltee™rpubllc  The  Senators  and  Eepresentatives 
before  mentioned,  and  the  members 
of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and 
all  executive  and  judicial  officers, 
both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
several  States,  shall  be  bound  by 
oath  or  affirmation  to  support  this 

No^reiigious  Constitution ;  but  no  religious  test 
shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualifica- 
tion to  any  office  or  public  trust 
under  the  United  States. 


ARTICLE   VII. 

The  ratification  of  the  conventions 
of  nine  States  shall  be  sufficient  for 
the  establishment  of  this  Constitution 
between  the  States  so  ratifying  the 
same. 


Ratification. 


Done  in  convention,  by  the  unani- 
mous consent  of  the  States  present, 
the  seventeenth  day  of  September, 
inthe-year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  eighty-seven, 
and   of  the  Independence  of  the 


CONSTITUTION. 


139 


United     States    of    America    the 
twelfth.  In  witness  whereof,  we  have 
hereunto  subscribed  our  names. 
GEO.  WASHINGTON, 
President,  and  Deputy  from  Virginia, 


NEW  HAMPSIIIRE. 

John  Langdon, 
Nicholas  Gilman. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Nathaniel  Gorham, 
Rufus  King. 

CONNECTICUT. 


DELAWARE. 

George  Read, 
Gunning  Bedford,  jun. 
John  Dickinson, 
Richard  Basse tt, 
Jacob  Broom. 

MARYLAND. 


William  Samuel  Johnson,  James  McHenry, 


Roger  Sherman. 

NEW  YORK. 

Alexander  Hamilton 

NEW  JERSEY. 

William  Livingston, 
David  Brearley, 
William  Paterson, 
Jonathan  Dayton. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

B.  Franklin, 
Thomas  Mifflin, 
Robert  Morris, 
George  Clymer, 
Thomas  Fitzsimons, 
Jared  Ingersoll, 
James  Wilson, 
Gouv.  Morris. 


Attest 


Dan  of  St.  Thomas  Jenifer, 
Daniel  Carroll. 

VIRGINIA. 

John  Blair, 

James  Madison,  jun. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

William  Blount, 
Rich'd  Dobbs  Spaight, 
Hu.  Williamson. 

SOUTn  CAROLINA. 

J.  Rutledge, 
Charles  Cotesworth 

Pinckney, 
Charles  Pinckney, 
Pierce  Butler. 

GEORGIA. 

William  Few, 
Abr.  Baldwin. 
WILLIAM  JACKSON,  Secretary. 


AMENDMENTS 


ARTICLE  I. 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an 
establishment  of  religion,  or  prohibiting  the 
free  exercise  thereof;  or  abridging  the  free- 
dom of  speech,  or  of  the  press  ;  or  of  the  right 
of  the  people  peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to 
petition  the  government  for  a  redress  of  griev- 
ances. 

ARTICLE  II. 
A  well  regulated  militia  being  necessary 
to  the  security  of  a  free  State, 'the  right  of 
the  people  to  keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not 
be  infringed. 

ARTICLE  III. 

No  soldier  shall  in  time  of  peace  be  quar- 
tered in  any  house  without  the  consent  of 
the  owner,  nor  in  time  of  war  but  in  a  man- 
er  to  be  prescribed  by  law. 

(HO) 


AMENDMENTS  141 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  riglit  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in 
their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and  effects, 
against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures, 
shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  warrants  shall 
issue  but  upon  probable  cause,  supported  by 
oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly  describ- 
ing the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  per- 
sons or  things  to  be  seized. 

ARTICLE  V. 

ISTo  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a 
capital,  or  otherwise  infamous  crime,  unless 
on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of .  a  grand 
jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or 
naval  forces,  or  in  the  militia,  when  in  actual 
service  in  time  of  war  or  public  danger  ;  nor 
shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  of- 
fence to  be  twice  put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or 
limb  ;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any  criminal 
case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be 
deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without 
due  process  of.  law  ;  nor  shall  private  prop- 
erty be  taken*  for  public  use  without  just  com- 
pensation. 


142       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN^    CATECHISM. 
ARTICLE   VI. 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused 
shall  enjoy  the  right  to  a  speedy  and  public 
trial  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and 
district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been 
committed,  which  district  shall  have  been 
previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be  in- 
formed of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusa- 
tion ;  to  be  confronted  with  the  witnesses 
against  him ;  to  have  compulsory  process  for 
obtaining  witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have 
the  assistance  of  counsel  for  his  defence. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value 
in  controversy  shall  exceed  twenty  dollars, 
the  light  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved, 
and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise 
re-examined  in  any  court  of  the  United  States, 
than  according  to  the  rules  of  the  common 
law. 

ARTICLE    VIII. 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor 
excessive  fines  imposed,  nor  cruel  and  unu- 
sual punishments  inflicted. 


AMENDiMENTS.  143 

ARTICLE  IX. 

The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution  of 
certain  rights,  shall  not  be  construed  to  deny 
or  disparage  others  retained  by  the  people. 

ARTICLE    X. 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited 
by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

ARTICLE  XI. 
The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States 
shall  not  be  constmed  to  extend  to  any  suit 
in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted 
against  one  of  the  United  States  by  citizens 
of  another  State,  or  by  citizens  or  subjects  of 
any  foreign  State 

ARTICLE   XII. 

The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective 
States,  and  vote  by  ballot  for  President  and 
Vice-President,  one  of  whom  at  least  shall 
not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with 
themselves ;  they  shall  name  in  their  ballots 
the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and  in  dis- 
tinct  ballots   the  person  voted  for  as  Vice- 


144      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S    CATECHISM. 

President ;  and  they  shall  make  distinct  lists 
of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  of 
all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and 
of  the  number  of  votes  for  each;  which  lists 
they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  seal- 
ed to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  directed  to  the  president  of  the 
Senate.  The  President  of  the  Senate  shall, 
in  the  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Kepresentatives,  open  all  the  certificates,  and 
the  votes  shall  then  be  counted ;  the  person 
having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  Presi- 
dent shall  be  the  President,  if  such  number 
be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  electors 
appointed  ;  and  if  no  person  have  such  ma- 
jority, then,  from  the  persons  having  the 
highest  numbers,  not  exceeding  three,  on  the 
list  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House 
of  Representatives  shall  choose  immediately 
by  ballot  the  President.  But  in  choosing 
the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by 
States,  the  representation  from  each  State 
having  one  vote  ;  a  quorum  for  this  purpose 
shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from 
two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a  majority  of 
all  the  States  shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice. 


AMENDMENTS.  145 

And  if  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  shall 
not  choose  a  President,  whenever  the  right 
of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them,  before  the 
fourth  day  of  March  next  following,  then  the 
Vice  -  President  shall  act  as  President,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  death,  or  other  constitutional 
disability  of  the  President. 

The  person  having  the  greatest  number  of. 
votes  as  Vice-President  shall  be  the  Vice- 
President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of 
the  whole  number  of  electors  appointed  ;  and 
if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the 
two  highest  numbers  on  the  list  the  Senate 
shall  choose  the  Vice-President;  a  quorum 
for  the  purpose  shall  consist  of  two- thirds  of 
the  whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a  majority 
of  the  whole  number  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
choice.  But  no  person  constitutionally  in- 
eligible to  the  office  of  President  shall  be  eli- 
gible to  that  of  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States. 


fart  $!mn&. 


PARLI  AM  E  NT  A 1 1 Y    PRACTICE. 

What  is  a  deliberative  assembly  ? 

A  deliberative  assembly  is  an  organized 
meeting  of  persons,  associated  to  examine  the 
!  for  and  against  measures  submitted 
for  their  decision. 

What  is  an  organized  meeting  ? 

An  organized  meeting  is  an  assemblage  of 
persons  gathered  for  deliberation,  having  its 
proper  officers,  which  are  its  instruments  or 
means  of  action. 

What  are  the  necessary  officers  for  a  deliberative 
assembly  ? 

A  presiding  officer,  and  a  secretary  or 
clerk ;  but  others  may  be  appointed,  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  organization. 

What  is  the  proper  mode  of  organizing  a  meeting  ? 
The  proper  mode  is  for  some  person  to  arise, 

(140) 


PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE.  147 

and,  after  gaining  the  attention  of  the  assem- 
bly, to  suggest  the  propriety  of  appointing  a 
presiding  officer,  and  calls  upon  the  house  to 
nominate  some  one.  A  nomination  being 
made  and  seconded,  he  repeats  the  question, 
and  says,  u  Those  in  favor  of  the  motion  will 
please  say  Aye.77  After  a  pause,  he  adds, 
"  Those  opposed  to  the  motion  will  say  No." 
If  the  question  is  carried  in  the  negative,  an- 
other nomination  is  made  as  before ;  but  if  it 
is  carried  in  the  affirmative,  the  person  stat- 
ing the  fact  to  house  calls  upon  the  person 
elect  to  assume  the  proper  place.  The  presi- 
dent then  takes  the  chair,  and  continues  the 
organization  by  requesting  a  nomination  for 
the  office  of  secretary,  and  such  other  officers 
as  may  be  deemed  necessary, 

When,  and  why,  is  it  better  to  organize  tempora- 
rily ? 

It  is  better  to  organize  temporarily  when 
the  organization  is  to  be  permanent,  and  be- 
cause a  judicious  selection  of  officers  is  im- 
portant. 

In  what  way  do  meetings,  temporarily  organized, 
proceed  to  a  permanent  organization  ? 


148      THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

It  is  better  to  entrust  the  nomination  of  per- 
manent officers  to  a  few  persons,  called  a  com- 
mittee. 

What  is  the  duty  of  this  committee  ? 

To  retire  from  the  room,  and  examine  the 
claims  of  the  several  persons  suitable  to  hold 
the  several  offices,  and  report  the  same  to  the 
house. 

What  are  the  general  duties  of  president  ? 

To  preside  over  the  deliberations  of  the 
assembly  ;  to  enforce  the  rules  of  order,  and 
the  order  of  business  ;  to  maintain  due  deco- 
rum among  the  members  ;  to  give  informa- 
tion, when  necessary,  on  points  of  order ;  to 
decide  upon  questions  of  parliamentary  prac- 
tice ;  t  >  receive  and  announce  all  messages 
for  the  hou-  submit  properly  all  suita- 

ble motions,  petitions,  or  propositions  made 
by  members  ;  to  see  that  each  member  has 
his  rights  ;  to  appoint  persona  to  serve  on 
committees  when  the  house  require  it ;  and 
to  see  that  committees,  officers,  and  members 
perform  the  duties  incumbent  on  them  by 
the  constitution. 


PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE.  149 

What  is  the  duty  of  a  vice-president  ? 
He  performs  the  duties  of  the  president  in 
his  absence. 

What  are  the  duties  of  the  recording  secretary  ? 

To  record  faithfully  the  doings  of  the 
house  ;  to  read  aloud  all  such  papers  as  the 
house  may  order  read  ;  to  call  the  roll  when 
the  vote  is  taken  by  yeas  and  nays,  and  re- 
cord the  answer  of  each  member ;  to  notify 
committees  of  their  appointment,  and  the 
matter  committed  to  them  ;  and  to  take  in 
charge  all  documents  belonging  to  the  house. 

What  is  the  duty  of  a  corresponding  secretary  ? 

To  conduct,  under  the  direction  of  the 
house,  all  correspondence  with  another  house, 
or  with  individuals. 

What  is  the  duty  of  the  treasurer  ? 

To  receive  all  moneys  belonging  to  the 
house,  and  pay  out  the  same  at  their  order, 
and  report  the  condition  of  the  finances 
whenever  required. 

How  are  the  proceedings  of  a  deliberative  body 
usually  conducted  ? 

In  accordance  with  certain  rules,  called 
rules  of  order. 


150      THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

What  is  the  use  of  rules  of  order  ? 
To  obtain  a  free  expression  of  opinion,  and 
a  fair  decision  of  the  questions  discussed. 

Are  the  rules  of  order  the  same  in  all  deliberative 
bodies  ? 

In  essentials  they  are  nearly  the  same,  but 

they  often  differ  oil  minor  points. 

From  whence  arose  the  rules  of  order  in  most  of 
our  minor  deliberative  bodies  ? 

Those  within  the  states  are  formed  from 
the  rules  of  order  in  the  state  legislature 
from  which  they  sprung;  these  in  turn 
sprung  from  the  rules  of  order  of  congress; 
and  these  again  in  turn  sprung  from  the  par- 
liament of  Great  Britain. 

What  is  the  essence  of  these  rules  called  ? 
The  common  code  of  parliamentary  law. 

Is  it  common  to  adopt  rules  other  than  those  em- 
braced in  the  common  code  ? 

It  is  not  unusual. 

In  what  form  are  the  acts  of  a  deliberative  body 
expressed  ? 

Its  decisions  are  usually  embodied  in  for- 
mal declarations,  called  resolutions. 


PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE.  151 

What  is  a  motion  ? 

A  formal  proposition  offered  by  some  one 
in  a  deliberative  body,  for  the  purpose  of  ob- 
taining the  sense  of  the  meeting. 

In  what  way  are  decisions  commonly  made  in  a  de- 
liberative body  ? 

By  ballot,  by  open  vote,  or  by  taking  the 
yeas  and  nays. 

What  is  the  form  observed  in  submitting  a  ques- 
tion ] 

The  presiding  officer  asks,  u  Is  the  assembly 
ready  for  the  question  V  If  no  one  offers  to 
say  any  thing,  or  after  all  are  done  speak- 
ing, he  says,  "  As  many  of  you  as  favor  the 
adoption  of  the  resolution  will  signify  it  by 
saying  Aye;"  after  pausing,  he  says,  "Those 
of  the  contrary  opinion  will  say  No."  The 
answer  being  given,  the  presiding  officer  says, 
u  The  ayes  have  it,"  or  "The  noes  have  it," 
as  he  shall  judge  are  in  the  majority. 

What  is  to  be  done  if  the  chair  is  unable  to  decide 
which  has  it  ? 

He  may,  on  a  call  of  a  member,  divide  the 
house,  by  causing  the  ayes  to  go  to  one  side 
of  the  room,  and  the  noes  to  take  the  oppo- 


152      THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN^   CATECHISM*. 

site  side;  or,  lie  may  ask  the  ayes  to  raise  the 
right  hand,  ami,  after  they  are  counted,  re- 
quest the  noes  to  do  the  same. 

Who  count  in  case  of  a  division  of  the  house  ? 

The  president;  or  he  may  appoint  persons 
called  tellers,  who  report  the  result  to  the 
house. 

Who  decides,  if  the  house  is  equally  divided? 
The  president. 

What  is  a  ballot? 

Primarily  it  signifies  a  little  ball,  and  to 
vote  by  ballot  properly  is  to  cast  a  ball  col- 
ored or  marked  in  such  a  way  as  to  indicate 
the  choice  intended  ;  but  convenience  has  sub- 
stituted tickets. 

What  is  a  vote  ? 

The  literal  meaning  is  a  vow,  wish,  or  will  ; 
practically  it  is  the  method  used  for  express- 
ing choice. 

What  is  the  usual  form  of  taking  the  yeas   and 
nays  ? 
The  president'"   states  the  question   under 

*  Tho  presiding  officer,  as  referred  to  in  this  work,  will  bo 
styled  president. 


PARLIAMENTARY    PRACTICE.  153 

consideration,  and  says,  "  As  many  as  are  in 
favor  of  the  resolution  will,  as  their  names 
are  called,  answer  Yes,  and  as  many  as  are 
opposed  to  it  will  answer  No."  The  roll  is 
then  called  by  the  secretary,  and  as  each 
member  answers  Yes,  or  No,  it  is  marked  op- 
posite his  name. 

How  many  votes,  in  any  case,  are  necessary  to  decide 
a  question  ? 

A  majority,  unless  a  special  rule  to  the 
contrary  is  made. 

What  is  meant  by  majority  and  plurality  ? 

Majority  signifies  more  than  half;  plurality 
means  a  greater  number,  as  a  person  may 
have  a  greater  number  of  votes  than  any 
other  one,  yet  not  have  a  majority. 

What  is  a  quorum  ? 

It  is  such  a  number  as  shall  by  rule  of  the 
house  be  required  to  be  present  in  order  to 
render  the  transactions  of  the  house  valid. 

When  does  a  proposition  become  a  question  ? 

"When,  after  due  deliberation,  it  comes  to  be 

put  to  vote  upon  its  acceptance  or  rejection. 

7* 


154      THE   YOUNG  CITIZENS    CATECHISM. 

When  is  a  proposition  duly  before  the  house  ? 

After  it  has  been  moved  and  seconded,  and 
<i  by  the  presiding  officer. 

What  are  the  rights  of  members  based  upon  ? 
On  the  principle  of  equality  among  them- 
selves. 

What  are  the  duties  of  private  members? 
To  observe  strictly  the  rules  of  order,  and 
the  decorum  proper  to  gentlemen. 

Whatifl  the  first  step,  after  the  organization  of  a 
meeting  ? 

It  is  for  the  president  to  announce  that  the 
mult  has  been  property  organized,  and  is 
ready  for  the  transaction  of  business. 

How  is  business  commenced,  after  an  organization  ? 

The  president  either  states  the  object  of 
the  meeting,  or  calls  on  some  member  to  do 
so. 

What  next  is  in  order  ? 

A  committee  may  be  appointed,  who  im- 
mediately retire  for  the  purpose  of  consid- 
ering the  object  of  the  meeting,  and  report 
their  views  to  the  house ;  or  the  matter  may 
be  embodied  in  a  motion,  and  discussed  and 


PARLIAMENTARY   PRACTICE.  155 

decided,  or  referred  to  a  committee  for  fur- 
ther consideration. 

What  is  a  committee  ? 

It  is  one  or  more  individuals  set  apart  by 
the  order  of  the  house,  to  whom  are  entrusted 
certain  matters. 

What  is  the  object  of  a  committee? 

It  is  to  provide  for  a  more  thorough  ex- 
amination of  the  subject  than  can  be  had  in 
the  whole  house. 

May  a  part  of  a  subject  be  referred  to  a  committee  ? 
It  may. 

What  is  the  presiding  officer  of  a  committee  called  ? 
Chairman. 

Who  is  appointed  as  chairman  in  a  committee  ? 

The  first  named  in  the  appointment, — and  he 
should  be  appointed  who  moves  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee ;  but  the  committee  may 
elect  their  own  chairman  afterward. 

• 
How  are  a  committee  to  act  after  appointment  ? 

They  are  to  act  as  an  agent  for  the  house, 
and  work  under  its  instructions. 


jart  ihirl 


SECTION    I. 

PROMISSORY  NOTES  AND  BILLS  OF  EXCHANGE. 

"What  is  a  promissory  note  ? 

A  written  promise  to  pay  money. 

Must  it  be  in  writing  ? 
It  must. 

May  it  be  in  pencil  marks  ? 
Yes,  if  legible. 

Is  it  necessary  that  any  particular  form  should  be 
used  ? 

It  is  not ;  any  words  which  import  an  ab- 
solute engagement  to  pay  are  sufficient,  as 
the  ordinary  due  bill,  in  these  words : 

u  Due  S,  or  bearer,  ten  dollars,  vain  '  re- 
ceived." 

"Due  A  B  ten  dollars,  payable  on  de- 
mand." 

"  Due  B  ten  dollars  on  settlement." 


PROMISSORY   NOTES,    ETC.  157 

These  forms,  properly  signed  and  dated,  are 
collectable. 

An  instrument  in  these  words : — "  Bor- 
rowed of  J.  S.  Piatt  fifty  dollars,  which 
I  promise  never  to  pay" — -was  held  a  good 
note,  the  word  "never'7  to  be  rejected  as  sur- 
plusage. 

What  is  an  essential  quality  of  both  promissory- 
notes  and  bills  of  exchange  ? 

That  they  be  payable  in  money. 

If  they  are  payable  in  goods,  or  any  thing  but 
money,  what  are  they  held  to  be  ? 

Mere  contracts,  binding  on  the  maker,  but 

not  negotiable  as  promissory  notes  or  bills. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  the  word  negotiable  ? 
That  which  may  be  transferred  from  one 
person  to  another. 

What  form  of  a  note  is  negotiable  by  delivery  ? 
When  made  payable  to  bearer. 

Give  an  example. 
$20. 

Thirty  days  after  date  I  promise  to  pay  to 
George  Eeed,  or  bearer,  twenty  dollars,  value 
received.  A  B. 

Marcellus,  July  2d,  1860. 


158      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

When  will  the  above  form  of  note  commence  draw- 
ing interest  ? 

Not  until  due. 

If  the  note  reads  "  with  interest,"  when  does  in- 
terest accrue  ? 

From  date. 

If  instead  of  "  bearer"  the  word  "  order"  should  be 
written  in  the  preceding  form,  how  could  the  note  be 
made  negotiable  ? 

By  the  indorsement  of  the  payee. 

Who  is  the  payee  ? 

The  person  to  whom  the  note  is  made  pay- 
able, as  George  Reed  in  the  foregoing  form. 

By  indorsing  the  note,  what  does  George  Reed 
become  ? 

The  indorser;  and  the  one  to  whom  the 
note  is  indorsed,  the  indorsee. 

How  is  the  indorsement  made  ?  q* 

By  writing  the  name  across  the  [•  g> 

middle  of  the  hack  thus  o 

Give  the  form  of  a  note  not  negotiable. 


Three  months  after  date  I  promise  to  pay 
to  B.  F.  Moses,  fifty  dollars,  value  received. 
Marcellus,  July  2d,  1860.  A  B. 


PROMISSORY    NOTES,    ETC.  159 

Give  the  form  of  one  on  demand. 
$50. 

On  demand  I  promise  to  pay  Thomas 
Decoudres,  or  bearer,  (or  order,)  fifty  dollars, 
value  received.  .A  B. 

Marceilus,  July  22d,  1860. 

In  the  last  form,  when  does  interest  commence  ac- 
cruing ? 

As  soon  as  a  demand  is  made. 

Is  the  above  form  of  note  collectable  without  a  de- 
mand ? 

It  is  not. 

Give  the  form  of  a  note  payable  at  a  bank. 
$500. 

Sixty  days  after  date,  for  value  received, 
I  promise  to  pay  Gay  P.  Barber,  or  order,  five 
hundred  dollars  at  the  Syracuse  City  Bank. 

Marceilus,  July  23d,  1860.  A  B. 

When  this  note  is  presented  to  the  bank,  what  is 

necessary  ? 

An  indorsement  by  the  payee. 

Give  the  form  of  a  chattel  note  or  note  payable  in 
specific  articles. 
$10. 

One  year  after  date,  for  value  received,  I 


160      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

promise  to  pay  Thomas  Walker,  or  bearer, 
(or  order,)  ten  dollars  in  shoe-pegs,  at  current 
price.  A  B. 

Marcellus,  July  25th,  18G0. 

In  the  last  form,  if  A  B  fail  to  perform  the  contract 
on  his  part,  what  can  Walker  do  ? 

He  must  demand  the  pegs  at  the  time  and 
place  agreed  on,  and  then  bring  his  action  for 
their  value  in  money. 

Give  the  form  of  a  note  with  surety. 
$50. 

One  year  from  date  I  promise  to  pay  E. 
Dorchester,  or  bearer,  (or  order,)  fifty  dollars, 
for  value  received,  with  interest. 

Marcellus,  July  26th,  1860.       A  B. 

C  D,  Surety. 

How  may  the  surety  be  discharged  ? 

By  calling  upon  the  creditor  to  bring  an 
action  upon  the  debt  alter  it  is  payable  ;  and 
if  he  declines  to  do  it  and  the  principal  be- 
comes insolvent,  the  surety  will  be  discharged. 
But  to  relieve  the  surety,  it  must  appear  that 
he  requested  the  creditor  to  proceed  against 
the  principal  at  a  time  when  he  was  solvent 
and  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State,  and 


PROMISSORY    NOTES,    ETC.  161 


that  the  creditor,  without  reasonable  excuse, 
neglected  so  to  do,  until  the  principal  became 
insolvent  and  unable  to  pay. 

What  is  a  Joint  note  ? 

A  joint  note  is  one  given  by  two  or  more 
persons  jointly,  and  should  read  u  we  jointly 
promise  to  pay,"  <fcc,  as  in  other  notes. 

What  is  a  joint  and  several  note  ? 

It  is  a  note  made  by' two  or  more  persons 
jointly  and  severally,  and  should  read  thus, 
"  We  jointly  and  severally  promise  to  pay 
Wm.  J.  Machan,  or  order,  (or  bearer,)"  &c, 
as  in  other  notes. 

How  do  the  last  two  forms  duTer  ? 

In  this:  In  an  action  on  a  joint  note  all  the 
makers  must  be  made  parties :  but  in  the  case 
of  joint  and  several  notes  the  holder  may  sue 
one  of  the  makers  and  collect  a  part  of  his 
debt  against  him  without  discharging  the 
others ;  and  the  giving  time  to  one,  or  agree- 
ing not  to  bring  an  action  against  him,  will 
not  bar  an  action  against  the  others ;  or,  all 
may  be  made  parties  to  the  same  action. 

If  a  note   read  "  I  promise  to  pay,"  &c,  and  is 


162       THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECIIISM. 

signed  by  two  or  more  persons,  what  kind  of  a  note 
is  it? 

It  is  a  joint  and  several  note. 

How  is  a  note  to  be  guaranteed  ? 

By  wilting  across  the  back  "  For  value  re- 
ceived I  hereby  guarantee  the  payment  (or 
collection)  of  the  within  note,"  and  signing 
and  dating. 

What  is  the  difference  in  the  guarantee  of  pay- 
ment and  guarantee  of  collection  of  a  note  ? 

If  the  payment  only  be  guaranteed,  the 
holder  of  the  note  may  look  to  the  guarantor, 
after  a  refusal  by  the  maker  to  pay,  without 
bringing  an  action;  but  if  the  collection  be 
guaranteed,  the  holder  must  sue  and  fail  to 
collect  before  the  guarantor  is  liable. 

"What  is  a  guarantor  ? 

One  who  engages  to  see  that  the  stipula- 
tions of  another  are  performed. 

How  does  a  guarantor  differ  from  a  surety  ? 

A  guarantor  can  not  be  sued  until  a  failure 
on  the  part  of  the  principal,  while  a  surety 
may  be  sued  with  the  principal. 

What  are  days  of  grace  ? 


PROMISSORY    NOTES,    ETC.  163 

The  time  allowed  after  tlie  time  limited  for 
the  payment  of  a  note — three  days. 

Where  days  are  allowed,  when  must  the  bill  or  note 
be  paid  ? 

On  the  last  day  of  grace,  and  neither  the 
acceptor  nor  maker  can  be  sued  upon  it  until 
the  day  after. 

In  order  to  charge  the  drawer  of  a  bill  or  the  en- 
dorser of  a  note,  when  should  a  presentation  and 
demand  be  made  ? 

Upon  the  last  day  of  grace ;  and  if  made 

upon  any  other  day,  it  is  a  nullity. 

How  is  it  when  the  last  day  of  grace  falls  upon 
Sunday,  the  fourth  day  of  July,  the  twenty-fifth  day 
of  December,  the  first  day  of  January,  or  Thanksgiv- 
ing day  ? 

In  such  cases  the  day  previous  is  the  last 
day  of  grace. 

When  is  there  but  one  day  of  grace  ? 
Where  Sunday  and  another  of  these  days 
succeed  each  other. 

Suppose  a  note  is  made  payable  on  the  first  day  of 
June,  when  is  it  due  ? 

On  the  fourth. 


1G4       THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

Suppose  it  is  made  payable  on  the  first  of  July,  when 
is  it  due  ? 

On  the  third. 

Suppose  the  third  occurs  on  Sunday,  when  is  it 
due  ? 

On  the  second. 

If  a  note  or  bill  dated  on  the  twenty-eighth,  twen- 
ty-ninth, thirtieth,  or  thirty-first  of  January  is  made 
payable  in  one  month  after  date,  when  does  the  month 
expire  ? 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  February,  except 
leap  years,  when  it  is  on  the  twenty-ninth  ; 
in  either  case  the  days  of  grace  must  be  add- 
e  1  before  it  becomes  due. 

If  a  bill  or  note  be  made  payable  at  a  certain 
place,  what  is  necessary  in  order  to  charge  the  draw- 
er and  endorsers  ? 

It  must  be  presented  at  that  place  and  de- 
mand of  payment  made  on  the  last  day  of 
grace ;  and  if  not  paid,  notice  of  presentment, 
demand  of  payment,  and  non-payment  must 
be  given  them  on  the  same  day,  or  the  next 
day :  this  is  called  notice  of  protest. 

Give  a  form  of  a  notice  of  protest. 


PROMISSORY    NOTES,    ETC.  165 

To  Mr.  James  Jackson  :  The  note  made 
by  Richard  Roe,  (or  the  bill  drawn  by  James 
Doe  on  Richard  Roe,)  dated  May  1st,  1860, 
and  payable  to  the  order  of  John  Doe,  ten 
days  after  date,  and  by  you  endorsed,  has 
this  day  been  presented  to  the  maker,  (or 
if  a  bill,  to  the  acceptor,)  and  payment  there- 
of demanded  ;  but  it  was  and  is  unpaid,  and  is 
dishonored :  I  am  the  holder  thereof,  and  look 
to  you  for  its  payment. 

Dated  May  13th,  1860. 

Yours,  &c, 

John  Stiles. 

By  whom  is  this  notice  usually  served  ? 
By  a  notary  public,  but  may  be  by  any 
one. 

If  the  maker  or  acceptor,  at  the  time  the  bill  or  note 
was  made,  resided  in  the  state,  but  afterward  removed 
to  a  foreign  country,  of  whom  is  demand,  <fcc.,  made  ? 

At  his  last  place  of  residence  within  the 
state  ;  but  if  he  removes  to  another  place 
within  the  state,  it  must  be  made  there. 

How  if  the  maker  or  acceptor  abscond,  and  have 
no  fixed  place  of  residence  ? 

No  presentment  or  demand  is  necessary. 


166      THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN^   CATECHISM. 

How  is  it  in  case  of  partners  when  one  of  them 
have  died  ? 

Make  the  presentment  and  demand  of  the 
survivor,  at  his  usual  place  of  business. 

How  if  the  acceptor  or  maker  die  before  the  ma- 
turity of  the  bill  or  note  ? 

Make  the  presentment  and  demand  of  his 
executors  or  administrators,  if  there  be  any  ; 
if  there  be  none,  then  at  the  house  of  the 
deceased. 

Where  a  bill  or  note  is  made  payable  at  a  bank 
which  is  accustomed  to  close  at  a  certain  hour  in  the 
day,  how  is  the  holder  bound  ? 

To  be  acquainted  with  its  usages,  and  pre- 
sent the  instrument  for  payment  during  its 
business  hours. 

How  is  it  with  an  agent  who  has  received  a  bill  or 
note  for  collection  ? 

He  is  considered  the  real  holder,  for  the 
purpose  of  receiving  and  transmitting  notice 
of  dishonor. 

Where  two  or  more  payees  indorse  their  individual 
names,  what  is  necessary  to  charge  either  ? 

To  give  all  notice,  unless  they  are  partners. 


PROMISSORY   NOTES,    ETC.  167 

How  should  the  notice  be  served  ? 

Personally ;  or  left  at  his  residence  or  place 
of  business  if  the  party  to  be  notified  reside 
in  the  city  or  town  where  the  note  or  bill  is 
payable. 

How  when  parties  reside  in  a  different  town  or 
city? 

By  mail. 

What  is  a  bill  of  exchange  ? 

It  is  an  open  letter  from  one  person  styled 
the  drawer,  to  another  styled  the  drawee,  re- 
questing him  to  pay  a  certain  sum  to  a  third 
person  styled  the  payee,  upon  the  drawer's 
account,  at  sight  or  at  some  specified  time. 

In  common  language,  what  is  it  called  ? 

An  order  or  draft  for  the  payment  of 
money. 

What  is  the  usual  form  ? 

At  sight  (or  "  at  three  days  from  sight,"  or 
"ten  days  from  date")  pay  James  Jackson 
(or  "to  the  order  of  James  Jackson,"  "or 
bearer")  fifty  dollars,  at  the  Syracuse  City 
Bank,  for  value  received. 


168       THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

What  is  a  foreign  bill  ? 

A  bill  drawn  by  a  person  living  in  one 
state  on  one  of  another  state  or  foreign 
country. 

What  is  an  inland  bill  ? 

One  drawn  payable  within  the  state  where 
it  is  drawn. 

What  is  a  check? 

A  check  is  a  bill  of  exchange,  payable  to 
bearer,  and  on  demand,  and  is  governed  by 
the  same  rules. 

Give  the  usual  form. 

Mr.  E.  Corning  Cowles  : 

Pay  Newton  G-.  Case,  or  bearer,  fifty 
dollars.  Henry  J.  Howe. 

What  is  customary  in  dealing  with  foreign  bills  ? 

To  draw  three  bills,  all  for  the  same  amount 
and  number;  and  but  one  is  paid,  and  that 
the  first  received,  the  object  of  drawing  three 
bills  being  to  provide  against  loss  or  other 
casualty. 

A  SET  OF  FOREIGN  BILLS. 

No.  139,  Ex.  £250.     New  York,  July  2, 18G0. 
Thirty  days  after  sight  of  this  my  first  of 


PROMISSORY   NOTES,  ETC.  169 

exchange,  (second  and  third  unpaid,)  pay  to 
Messrs.  (x.  W.  <fc  Co.,  or  order,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  sterling,  value  received,  and 
charge  the  same  to  account  of  A  B. 

To  Messrs.  T.  W.  &  Co.,  London. 

No.  139,  Ex.  £250.  New  York,  July  2, 1860. 
Thirty  days  after  sight  of  this  my  second 
of  exchange,  (first  and  third  unpaid,)  pay  to 
Messrs.  Q.  W.  &  Co.,  or  order,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  sterling,  value  received,  and 
charge  the  same  to  account  of  A  B. 

To  Messrs.  T.  W.  &  Co.,  London. 

No.  139,  Ex.  £250.  New  York,  July  2,  1860. 
Thirty  days  after  sight  of  this  my  third  of 
exchange,  (first  and  second  unpaid,)  pay  to 
Messrs.  Gr.  W.  &  Co.,  or  order,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  pounds  sterling,  value  received,  and 
charge  the  same  to  account  of  A  B. 

To  Messrs.  T.  W.  &  Co.,  London. 
8 


L70      THE   YOUNG  CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 


SECTION    Xi, 

DEEDS. 

How  is  real  estate  conveyed  ? 

In  writing,  and  usually  by  deed. 

What  is  a  deed,  as  applied  to  conveyancing  ? 

An  instrument  in  writing,  upon  paper  or 
parchment,  between  parties  able  to  contract, 
and  duly  sealed  and  delivered. 

What  are  the  different  styles  of  deeds  called  ? 
Quit-claim,   common  warranty,  and  war- 
ranty full  covenant. 

How  do  these  forms  differ  ? 

The  guarantor  by  quit-claim  simply  con- 
veys his  interest  in  the  premises,  without  any 
warranty ;  whereas  in  the  common  warranty 
he  covenants  to  warrant  and  defend ;  and  in 
full  covenant  the  guarantor  covenants  that 
he  is  well  seized. 

THE  FOLLOWING   IS    THE   USUAL  FOKM  OF  QUIT- 
CLAIM. 

This  Indenture,  made  this  day 


DEEDS.  171 

of  ,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 

sand eight  hundred  and  sixty  ,  between 

of  the  first 
part  and 
of  the  second  part, — 

Witnesseth,  That  the  said  party  of  the  first 
part,  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of 
to  in  hand  paid  by  the  said  party  of 

the  second  part,  the  receipt  whereof  is  hereby 
confessed  and  acknowledged,  ha  bargained, 
sold,  remised,  and  quit-claimed  ;  and  by  these 
presents  do  bargain,   sell,  remise,  and 

quit-claim  unto  the  said  party  of  the  second 
part  and  to  heirs 

and  assigns  forever,  all  (Here  describe  the 
premises),  together  with  all  and  singular  the 
hereditaments  and  appurtenances  thereunto 
belonging,  or  in  anywise  appertaining,  and  the 
reversion  and  reversions,  remainder  and  re- 
mainders, rents,  issues,  and  profits  thereof, 
and  all  the  estate,  right,  title,  interest,  claim, 
and  demand  whatsoever,  of  the  said  party  of 
the  first  part,  either  in  law  or  equity,  of,  in,* 
and  to  the  above-bargained  premises,  with 
the  said  hereditaments  and  appurtenances; 
to  have  and  to  hold  the  said  to 


172     THE  young  citizen's  catechism. 

the  Baid  party  of  the  second  part, 

heirs  and  assigns,  to  the  sole  and  only  proper 

benefit  and  behoof  of  the  said  party  of  the 

second  part,  heirs  and  assigns 

fores 

In  witness  whereof  tne  part  of  the  first 
part  ha  hereunto  set  hand  and  seal  , 
the  day      and  year  first  above  written. 

John  North,  [l.s.] 
Sealed  and  delivered  in    > 
pr<  Berice  of  ) 

What  else  is  necessary  in  the  execution  of  any 
deed] 

There  should  be  an  acknowledgment,  usually 
in  the  following  form  : 

State  of  New  York,  ) 

County.      jss' 

On  this  day  of  ,  in  the  year 

one    thousand  eight   hundred  and  ,  be- 

fore me,  the  subscriber,  personally  appeared 

,  to  me  known  to  be 
.the  same  person  described  in  and  who  ex- 
ecuted the  within  instrument,  and  acknowl- 
edged that  executed  the  same. 

J.  S.  Baker,  J.  P. 


DEEDS.  173 

When  is  the  foregoing  acknowledgment  sufficient  ? 
Iii  case  of  a  single  person. 

Suppose  the  execution  is  made  by  husband  and 
wife  ? 

It  is  necessary  that  husband  and  wife  join 
in  the  acknowledgment,  usually  in  the  fol- 
lowing form : 

State  of  New  York,  )      , 
County.      j 
Oil  this  day  of  ,  in  the  year 

one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  ,  be- 

fore me,  the  subscriber,  personally  appeared 

,  to  me  known 
to  be  the  same  persons  described  in  and  who 
executed  the  within  instrument,  who  severally 
acknowledged  that  they  executed  the  same ; 
and  the  said  ,  on  a  private 

examination  by  me,  apart  from  her  said  hus- 
band, acknowledged  that  she  executed  the 
same  freely,  and  without  any  fear  or  compul- 
sion of  her  said  husband. 

J.  S.  Baker,  J.  P. 

What  is  the  form  of  a  warranty  deed  ? 
This  Indenture,  made  this  day  of 

,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 


174      TIIE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

eight  hundred  and  ;  between 

of  the  first  part,  and 
of  the  second 
part,— 

Witnesseth,  That  the   said  party  of  the 
first  part,  in  consideration   of  the   sum  of 

to  duly  paid, 

ha       sold,  and  by  these  presents   do 
grant  and  convey  to  the  said  party  of  the 
second  part,  heirs  and  assigns, 

all  that  tract  or  parcel  of  lands  situate  in  the 
of  ,  (Here  describe 

the  premises),  with  the  appurtenances,  and  all 
the  estate,  title,  and  interest  therein,  of  the 
said  party  of  the  first  part.     And  the  said 

do  hereby 
covenant  and  agree  to  and  with  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part,  heirs  and 

assigns,  that  the  premises  thus  conveyed  in 
the  quiet  and  peaceable  possession  of  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part,  heirs 

and  assigns,  will  forever  warrant 

and  defend  against  any  person  whomsoever, 
lawfully  claiming  the  same,  or  any  part 
thereof. 

In  witness  whereof,  the  part        of  the  first 


DEEDS.  175 

part  ha       hereunto   set  hand       and 

seal  ,  the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

F.  A.  Lyman,  [l.  s.] 

Sealed  and  delivered  in  } 
presence  of  j 

Give  the  form  for  a  warranty  deed,  full  covenant. 
This  Indenture,  made  this  day  of 

,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  ,  between 

of  the  first  part  and 
of  the  second  part — 

Witnesseth,  That   the  said  party  of  the 
first  part,  in   consideration   of  the   sum   of 
,  to  duly  paid, 

ha  sold,  and  by  these  presents  clo  grant 
and  convey  to  the  said  party  of  the  second 
part,  heirs  and  assigns,  all  that  tract 

or  parcel  of  land  situate  in  the  of 

(Here  describe  the  premises),  with  the 
appurtenances,  and  all  the  estate,  title,  and 
interest  therein  of  the  said  party  of  the  first 
part.     And  the  said  do 

hereby  covenant  and  agree  to  and  with  the 
said  party  of  the  second  part, 
heirs  and  assigns,  that  at  the  time  of  the  en- 


176      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

sealing  and  delivery  of  these  presents,  , 

the  lawful  owner,  and  well-seized  of 

the  premises  above  conveyed,  free  and  clear 
from  all  incumbrance  , 

and  that  the  premises  thus  conveyed  in  the 
quiet  and  peaceable  possession  of  the  said 
party  of  the  second  part,  heirs  and 

assigns,  will  forever  warrant  and 

defend  against  any  person  whomsoever,  law- 
folly  claiming  the  same  or  any  part  thereof. 

In  witness  whereof,  the  part  of  the  first 
part  ha  hereunto  set  hand  and  seal  , 
the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

Isaac  Bradley,  [l.  s.] 

Sealed  and  delivered  in 
presence  of 


i 


Is  any  thing  more  necessary  in  the  last  two  given 
forms  ? 

They  should  be  acknowledged,  as  in  the  first 
form ;  and  all  deeds  and  most  gages  should  be 
recorded  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  County 
in  which  the  premises  are  situated. 


MORTGAGES.  177 

SECTION    III. 

v      MORTGAGES. 

What  is  a  mortgage  ? 

A  dead  pledge — a  conditional  deed,  which 
becomes  invalid  upon  the  payment  of  the  sum 
secured  by  it. 

Must  it  be  signed,  sealed,  acknowledged,  and  de- 
livered ? 

It  must,  the  same  as  a  deed. 
Should  it  be  recorded  ? 

Yes. 

What  is  the  usual  form  ? 
As  follows : 

This  Indenture,  made  this  day  of 

,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thou- 
sand eight  hundred   and  ,  between 

of  the  first  part,  and 

of  the  second  part, — 

Witnes3eth,  That  the  said   party  of  the 

first   part,  in   consideration  of  the   sum   of 

dollars 


178       THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S  CATECHISM. 

has  sold,  and  by  these  presents  do  grant 

and  convey  to  the  said  party  of  the  second 
part,  heirs  and  assigns,  all  that  tract  or 

parcel  of  land  situate  in  the  of 

(Here  describe  the  premises.) 
This  grant  is  intended  as  a  security  for  the 
payment  of  the  sum  of 

,  according  to  the 
condition  of  a  bond  this  day  executed  and 
delivered  by  the  said 

to  the  said  party  of  the  second 
part,  and  this  conveyance  shall  be  void  if 
such  payment  be  made  as  herein  specified. 
And  in  case  default  shall  be  made  in  the 
payment  of  the  principal  sum  hereby  intended 
to  be  secured,  or  in  the  payment  of  the  in- 
terest thereof,  or  any  part  of  such  principal 
or  interest  as  above  provided,  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  the  party  of  the  second  part, 
executors,  administrators,  or  as- 
signs, at  any  time  thereafter,  to  sell  the  prem- 
ises hereby  granted,  or  any  part  thereof,  in 
the  manner  prescribed  by  law,  and  out 
of  all  the  money  arising  from  such  sale,  to 
retain  the  amount  then  due  for  principal  and 
interest,  together  with  the  costs  and  charges 


MORTGAGES.  179 

of  making  such  sale,  and  the  overplus,  if  any 
there  be,  shall  be  paid  by  the  party  making 
such  sale  on  demand  to  the  said 
heirs  and  assigns. 
In  witness  whereof,  the  party  of  the  first 
part  has  hereunto  set  hand  and  seal 

the  day  and  year  first  above  written. 

S.  D.  Gilbert,  [l.  s.] 

May  a  mortgage  be  assigned  ? 

Yes. 

How? 

By  writing,  and  may  be  on  the  mortgage 
or  separate  paper.  When  indorsed  on  the 
mortgage,  the  following  is  the  usual  form  :    , 

In  consideration  of  dollars  to 

paid  by  C.  D.,  of  ,1  do  here- 

by sell,  assign,  transfer  and  set  over  unto 
the  said  C.  D.,  the  within  Indenture  of 
mortgage,  together  with  the  bond  accompany- 
ing the  same,  for  his  use  and  benefit,  hereby 
authorizing  him  to  collect  and  enforce  pay- 
ment .thereof  in  my  name  or  otherwise,  but  at 
his  own  costs  and  charges. 

Should  the  assignment  be  under  seal  ? 
Yes,  and  acknowledged  and  recorded. 


180      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

Where  recorded  ? 

In  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county 
where  the  premises  are  situated,  same  as  the 
deed  and  mortgage. 

How  may  a  mortgage  be  satisfied  ? 
By  a  writing  showing  that  the  obligation 
has  been  redeemed. 

What  is  the  usual  form  ? 

A  mortgage  bearing  date  the  day  of 

,  eighteen  hundred  and  , 

executed  by  ,  recorded  in  the 

clerk's  office  of  the  county  of 

in  book  of 

mortgages,  page  on  the  day  of 

,  and  the  bond  accompany- 
ing said  mortgage,  are  redeemed  and  satisfied. 
Dated  the  day  of  ,  186  . 

What  should  be  attached  to  the  satisfaction  of  a 
mortgage  1 

An  acknowledgment. 

Give  the  common  form  ? 
County,  ss : 
Acknowledged  before  me  this  day 

of  ,  in  the  year  1SG  ,  by 


MORTGAGES.  181 

personally  known  to  me  to  be 
the  person  described  in,  and  who  severally 
executed  the  above  instrument. 

Thomas  Walker,  J.  P. 

What  is  a  bond  ? 

A  bond  accompanying  a  mortgage  is  a 
written  agreement  to  forfeit  a  certain  sum  in 
case  of  a  failure  to  perform  the  conditions  of 
the  bond. 

Give  the  common  form. 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents  :  That  I, 
A.  B.,  of  the  town  of  ,  in  the 

county  of  and  state  of  New 

York,  am  held  and  firmly  bound  unto  C.  D.,  of 
&c,  in  the  sum  of  one  thousand  dollars, 
lawful  money  of  the  United  States,  to  be  paid 
to  the  said  C.  D.,  his  executors,  administra- 
tors, or  assigns ;  for  which  payment,  well  and 
truly  to  be  made,  I  bind  myself,  my  heirs, 
executors,  and  administrators,  severally  and 
firmly,  by  these  presents.  - 

Sealed  with  my  seal.     Dated  the 
day    of  ■    one   thousand    eight 

hundred  and  .     The  condition  of  the 


182      THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

above  obligation  is  such,  that  if  the  above 
boundeu  A.  B.,  his  heirs,  executors,  or  ad- 
ministrators, shall  well  and  truly  pay  or  cause 
to  be  paid  unto  the  above  named  C.  D.,  his 
executors,  administrators,  or  assigns,  the  just 
and  full  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars,  in  live 
equal  annual  payments,  from  the  date  hereof 
with  annual  interest,  then  the  above  obliga- 
tion to  be  void ;  otherwise  to  remain  in  full 
force  and  virtue. 

Sealed  and  delivered      )      A.  B.  [l.  s.] 
in  presence  of  G.  H.       j 


SECTION  IV. 

WILLS. 

What  is  a  will,  in  law? 

A  will,  when  it  operates  upon  personal 
property,  is  sometimes  called  a  testament ; 
and  when  upon  real  estate,  a  devise ;  but  the 
more  general  name  is,  last  will  and  testament, 
and  embraces  both. 


WILLS.  183 

Who  are  capable  of  making  wills  of  personal  prop- 
erty? 

Every  male  person  of  the  age  of  eighteen 
years  and  upwards,  and  every  female  of  the 
age  of  sixteen  years  or  upwards,  of  sound 
mind  and  memory,  and  no  others,  may  give 
and  bequeath  his  or  her  personal  estate  in 
writing. 

Is  an  unwritten  will  bequeathing  personal  property 
valid? 

No,  unless  made  by  a  soldier  while  in  ac- 
tual military  service,  or  by  a  mariner  while 
at  sea. 

Who  may  devise  real  estate  1 
All  persons  except  idiots,  persons  of  un- 
sound mind,  and  infants. 

May  married  women  devise  real  or  personal  prop- 
erty ? 

Yes,  both,  if  belonging  to  them  in  their 
own  right,  and  not  conveyed,  given,  granted, 
or  devised  to  them  by  their  husbands. 

How  must  every  last  will  and  testament  of  real  and 
personal  property,  or  both,  be  executed  and  attested  1 

It  must  be  subscribed  by  the  testator  at 


184      THE    YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 

the  end  of  the  will ;  such  subscription  must 
be  made  by  the  testator,  in  the  presence  of 
each  of  the  attesting  witnesses,  or  acknowl- 
edged by  him  to  have  been  so  made  to  each 
of  the  attesting  witnesses ;  the  testator  must, 
at  the  time  of  making  such  subscription  or 
acknowledgment,  declare  the  instrument  so 
subscribed  to  be  his  last  will  and  testament ; 
there  must  be  at  least  two  attesting  wit- 
nesses, each  of  whom  must  sign  his  name  as 
a  witness  at  the  end  of  the  will,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  testator,  and  each  must  write 
opposite  his  name  his  place  of  residence ;  and 
whoever  writes  the  name  of  any  testator  to 
any  will  by  his  direction  must  write'  his  own 
name  as  a  witness  to  the  will ;  and  any  per- 
son neglecting  to  comply  with  the  above  pro- 
visions will  be  liable  to  a  forfeiture  of  fifty 
dollars. 

Will  fraud  vitiate  a  will  ? 

Yes. 

What  effect  will  a  subsequent  marriage  and  birth 
of  a  child  have  upon  the  will  ? 

It  will  operate  as  a  revocation  if  there  be 
no  provision  made  for  the  wife  and  child. 


WILLS.  185 

How  is  it  with  the  will  of  an  unmarried  woman  if 
she  subsequently  marries  % 

Her  will  is  revoked. 

How  may  a  will  be  revoked  or  altered  % 
A  will  is  revoked  by  a  subsequent  will,  or 
destruction  of  the  will  by  the  testator  or  by 
his  direction,  and  must  be  proved  by  at  least 
twTo  witnesses  ;  and  the  will  may  be  altered 
by  an  addition,  or  supplement,  in  writing, 
and  is  commonly  known  as  a  codicil. 

The  following  is  the  usual  form  of  a  will : 

In  the  name  of  God,  Amen. 

I  being  of  sound 

mind  and  memory,  and  considering  the  un- 
certainty of  this  frail  and  transitory  life,  do 
therefore  make,  ordain,  publish,  and  declare 
this  to  be  my  last  will  and  testament :  That 
is  to  say,  First,  after  all  my  lawful  debts  are 
paid  and  discharged,   I   give  and  bequeath 


Likewise  I   make,    constitute,    and   appoint 
to  be  executor  of  this  my  last  will  and  testa- 


186     THE  young  citizen's  catechism. 

ment,  hereby  revoking  all  former  wills  by 
me  made. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  sub- 
scribed my  name  and  affixed  my  seal,  the 
day  of  ,  in  the  year  of  our 

Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 

The  above  written  instrument  was  sub- 
scribed by  the  said  in 
our  presence,  and  acknowledged  by 
to  each  of  us :  and  at  the  same  time 
declared  the  above  instrument  so  subscribed 
to  be  last  will  and  testament ;  and  we, 
at  request,  have  signed  our  names  as 
witnesses  hereto,  and  written  opposite  our 
names  our  respective  places  of  residence. 

A  B.  [l.  s.] 

John  R.  Tijttle,  residing  in  Otisco,  Onon- 
daga Co.,  N.  Y. 

B.  J.  C.  Howe,  residing  in  Vesper,  Onon- 
daga Co.,  N.  Y. 

A  codicil  may  be  in  the  following  form  : 
Whereas,  I,  A  B,  of  ,  have 

made  my  last  will  and  testament  in  writing, 
bearing  date  the  day  of 

in  and  by  which  I  have  given  and  bequeathed, 


WILLS.  1 87 

&c.  (Here  set  forth  the  bequest  which  the 
testator  desires  to  change.)  Now,  there- 
fore, I  do  by  this  my  writing,  which  I  hereby 
declare  to  be  a  codicil  to  my  said  last  will 
and  testament,  and  to  be  taken  as  a  part 
thereof,  order  and  declare  that  my  will  is, 
that  only  the  sum  of 

be  paid  to  my  daughter-in-law  S  B,  in  full 
of  the  said  legacy  given  and  bequeathed  to 
her,  and  that  the  remainder  of  said  legacy  be 
given  and  paid  to  my  nephew  R  R.  And, 
lastly,  it  is  my  desire  that  this  co'dicil  be  an- 
nexed to  and  made  a  part  of  my  last  will 
and  testament,  as  aforesaid,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes.  In  witness,  &c.  (as  in  the  will, 
except  that  the  attestation  will  read  "  as  and 
for  a  codicil  to  his  last  will,"  &c.) 


188      THE   YOUNG   CITIZEN'S   CATECHISM. 
Interest  on  one  Dollar. 


Days. 

7  per 

6  per. 

1 

.00019 

.00016 

2 

.00039 

.00033 

3 

.00058 

.00050 

4 

.00078 

.00066 

5 

.00097 

.00083 

6 

.00117 

.00100 

7 

.00136 

.00116 

8 

.00166 

.001:5:5 

9 

.00175 

.00150 

10 

.00194 

.00106 

11 

.00*2 1  1 

.00183 

12 

.00. 

.00200 

13 

.00- 

.00:216 

14 

.00272 

.00233 

I:. 

.002 

.00250 

16 

.00311 

.00 

17 

.003:5 1 

.00283 

18 

.00 

.00:500 

19 

.00369 

.00316 

20 

.00389 

.00333 

21 

.00408 

.00:550 

22 

.00428 

.00366 

.00 1 17 

.00383 

.00467 

.00400 

25 

.00480 

.00416 

26 

.00506 

.00433 

,00525 

.00450 

.005 1 1 

.001(16 

29 

.005(5 1 

.00483 

30 

.00* 

.00500 

cent. 

1 

.00583 

2 

.01167 

3 

.01750 

4 

.0:2333 

5 

.02917 

6 

.03500 

7 

.01083 

8 

.01667 

9 

.05-250 

10 

.05833 

11 

.00417 

12 

.07000 

Months. 

6  per  cent. 

1 

.005 

2 

.010 

3 

.015 

4 

.020 

5 

.025 

6 

.030 

7 

.0:55 

8 

.040 

9 

.015 

10 

.050 

11 

.055 

12 

.060 

TABLES  ON  INTEREST,  ETC.  189 

Discount  on  one  Dollar  at  Seven  per  cent. 


Days. 

1 

.000191 

2 

.000382 

3 

.000574 

4 

.000766 

5 

.000957 

6 

.001148 

7 

.001330 

8 

.001531 

9 

.001722 

10 

.001913 

11 

.002104 

12 

.002295 

13 

.002486 

14 

.002677 

15 

.002867 

16 

.003058 

17 

.003249 

18 

.003487 

19 

.003680 

20 

.003873 

21 

.004066 

22 

.004259 

23 

.004451 

24 

.004644 

25 

.004837 

26 

.005029 

27 

.005222 

28 

.005414 

29 

.005606 

30 

.005800 

Months. 

.005800 

1 

2 

.011531 

3 

.017198 

4 

.022800 

5 

.028339 

6 

.033815 

7 

.039230 

8 

.044585 

9 

.049880 

10 

.055117 

11 

.060297 

12 

.065420 

RETURN    EDUCATION-PSYCHOLOGY  LIBRARY 

TO— ^^   2600  Tolman  Hall                 642-4209 

JLOAN  PERIOD  1 
"    1  MONTH 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

2-  hour  books  must  be  renewed  in  person 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 

APR  11 1983 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
FORM  NO.  DD10    10m,  11/78       BERKELEY,  CA  94720 

PS 

rB  31108 


541 187 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


la; 


jwjfflt 


